


Pompeii

by Blinded_Kit



Category: 2 Broke Girls, Daredevil (TV), Orphan Black (TV), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Crossover Pairings, Darcy Lewis Crossover, DareDevil Crossover, Multi, Multi-Crossover, Orphan Black Crossover, crossovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-29
Updated: 2016-03-07
Packaged: 2018-04-28 19:17:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 35,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5102591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blinded_Kit/pseuds/Blinded_Kit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darcy always thought she was normal. She grew up in foster care, she was just another kid in the system. But one night she saw something that changed everything. She saw a woman who looks just like her jump in front of a train. Now she wants to know whats going on. She just didn't know that it would go this deep. She just didn't know that she was a Clone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Own Nothing

Darcy stood there shaken to the core as the train slowed to a stop. She couldn’t believe she just watched the woman jump. She closed her eyes and she could still see the last few moments flash in her memory. The woman had walked past her and started to take off her shoes and jacket, set down her purse and turned around just as Darcy hung up on Jane. They had just finished arguing about how Jane had let her go, she needed a more science-y person now that she was with the Avengers and she wanted to let Darcy finish her Master’s degree, so she let her go. But none of that mattered now, not any more.

The woman had turned around to face Darcy and Darcy’s world had stopped, she was the spitting image of her, her face, eyes, everything. The woman looked exhausted and just couldn’t even make herself to look surprise to see a doppelganger of herself. She seemed to mouth something to herself before she turned and walked off the station platform and into the way of the oncoming train. Darcy let out a scream as people raced to see what happened.

She wiped back tears as she made her way through the crowd, no one noticing as she slowly picked up the woman’s purse and took off. She made her way up the stairs and out of the station, she was going to take a cab home tonight.

She opened the door and locked herself into her apartment all the way in Hell’s Kitchen before she set down on the floor to open up the purse. She opened up the wallet and looked at the license first. You know when they say that you’ll meet at least one person who looks like you in your lifetime. Ashley O’Donnell must be it, Darcy decided as she read through her wallet. She set it aside and continued to look through her purse: a pack of gum, mace, passport, bankbook, two cell phones and a few other things. Darcy sighed as she felt a wave of tears rack her body again as she set the purse aside. She picked up her phone wanting to call Jane but stopped. She wasn’t needed, and she knew that. She set the phone back down and looked at the wallet again.

What was so bad in Ashley’s life? Darcy wondered as she traced the DL picture with her finger. She picked up the wallet again and stared at the address and saw that it was in Brooklyn. She glanced at the clock, it was still early, and maybe she could go check her out, see through her eyes. Darcy bit her lips and groaned. “What the hell?” She pushed herself up and walked into her bathroom to freshen up before she grabbed Ashley’s purse and put the two cellphones in her own purse and grabbed both sets of keys and the wallet. “This is fucking weird.” She whispered as she walked out of her apartment and locked it up.

**

Darcy stared up at the chic apartment from the outside and could tell no one was home. She glanced around before she walked up to the door and let herself in quietly. “Hello? I’m home.” She stated as she walked in. She looked around to check for an alarm system and was super glad there wasn’t one. “Shit, that was lucky.” She smirked as she walked slowly around the apartment, she lifted up the picture of Ashley and a man. “Cute guy.” She set it back down and continued to walk through the apartment to the kitchen and peaked through the mail. “Paul Dierden.” She looked at the photo and smiled. “Hello Paul.” She moved around to the living room and looked through the movies to see a few home movies, she blinked and put on in, praying it wasn’t porn.

It wasn’t, she was happy to see, just a video of them running. Ashley was smiling and laughing, Paul talking to her. “Are you ready for the marathon this Saturday?” He asked.

“Hell yeah.” Ashley stated with a smirk.

Darcy tilted her head. “Hell yeah.” She mimicked and smirked when she repeated it several more times to get the voice right. She let the video continue to play as she walked through the apartment to the bedroom to look at the closet.  She flipped through the clothes and smiled. “Not bad Ashley.” She whispered.

“Ash, are you home?” The door opened and closed.

Darcy blinked, her heart pounding as she quickly took off her jacket and purse and tucked them into the closet. She hoped the shirt was close enough to something Ashley would wear. It was professional, just not classy. “Paul?” She called out.

Paul walked into the bedroom to see her standing in the closet. “What are you doing in here? And since when do you where beanies?” He pointed to her hat.

She reached up and pulled it off. “I bought it today, thought I’d try something different.” She rubbed her thumbs over it. “Not a good look?”

“It’s cute.” He smiled at her as he walked up to her and looked at her. “Something’s different about you. Are you sure you’re alright?”

Darcy’s heart raced as she looked up at him. She didn’t know what to do, this was a completely stupid idea. She bounced up on her feet and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. He stiffened and she knew she was screwed. He had to know that she wasn’t Ashley, that she was an imposter. He leaned into the kiss and wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her out the closest and into the bedroom. Darcy deepened the kiss and she felt a spark of chemistry between them and she knew she should feel shitty but damn son, he could kiss. She could feel him tugging on her clothes as he peel away from the kiss. “Ash, what has gotten into you?”

She looked up at him and tried to focus, to remember to mimic Ashley’s voice. “I felt like being spontaneous.” She stated lowly as she kissed him again before pushing him on the bed.

**

The next morning Darcy woke up and didn’t know where she was for a few moments before it registered. She blinked and looked over. “Shit.” She covered her mouth as she rolled out of bed and walked to the bathroom to look in the mirror. She closed the door and turned on the faucet and washed her face before looking at her reflection. “What the hell?” She asked herself. “What are you doing?” She waved her hands in a confused manner. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she opened them and looked around the bathroom, she opened the medicine cabinet and was amazed at what was inside. “Oh honey.” She pulled out all the pill bottles with Ashley’s name on it and frowned. “No wonder you jumped.” She looked up when she heard movement from the bedroom and put the bottles back and leaned over and flushed the toilet and squeezed some toothpaste on her finger to clean her teeth.

She opened the door to see Paul getting up from bed and smiling at her. “Last night was fun.” He stated.

She smirked at him. “Wasn’t it?” She gathered up her clothes and put them in the hamper because he was watching her. “What’s your plans for today?” She asked him. She needed to get out of here, she need to see what the names that were on the pill bottles were. She needed to leave this life. She didn’t want to get caught.

“I was going to meet up with the boys.” He stated as he watched her. “Are you doing you work thing today?” He asked her. She turned to look at him, the way he said it, was almost like a test question. Was it for her, or was it for Ashley?

She took a deep breath. “Yes.” She looked directly at him as her heart pounded. What work thing? What did Ashley do? Fuck, Ashley.

“Okay.” He nodded and walked around the bed and leaned down to kiss her. “I’m going to take a shower and get ready, want to join me?”

“Maybe another time.” Darcy whispered. “I should get ready.”

He nodded and walked into the bathroom and closed the door.

“The fuck?” She whispered as she raced to the clothes hamper to grab her clothes and into the closet to change. She quickly changed and grabbed her coat and purse and raced out before he was out of the shower.  She closed the door and reached into her purse and grabbed one of Ashely’s phones and looked through them, only one of them had a calendar for today. “That’s a start.” She whispered as she turned and walked to the station.

She walked into to her apartment and went to take a quick shower and changed into professional clothing before she looked down at the phone. “Hearing.” What the hell was Ashley? Darcy groaned, she regretted the decision to ever do this.

She picked up her own phone and quickly dialed her brother. “I need a beer.”

“It’s like nine in the morning.” He replied.

“Fine, coffee.” She snorted. “I have dug the biggest grave for myself that Jesus is just going to leave me for Satan to have.”

“Ten minutes, usual place.” He hung up and Darcy sighed as she pulled her hair up into a bun and she checked the charges on all the phones to see that they were okay. She sighed and saw the one, the one in the pink case had a missed call. From a Beatrix.

Darcy checked to make sure the wallet and phones were all in her purse as she stowed Ashley’s purse underneath her bed before she left the apartment. She made her way downtown to the tea shop near her brother’s work and sat down to wait for him. She didn’t have to wait long, because her brother was always early, to everything. “So what’s wrong?” He asked her.

She looked around and pulled out Ashley’s wallet and handed it to him. “I saw a woman kill herself last night, at the train station.”

“Shit, Darce.” He grabbed her hand.

“She looked exactly like me.” She whispered. “Identical.”

“I think you might be imagining things.” He whispered. “Seeing things like that could be a traumatic event.”

“I took her purse.” She pointed to the wallet.

“You stole from a dead woman?” He sounded not the least bit surprised by it. “I knew you were weird, but Darcy.” He opened the wallet and stopped. “Wow.”

“I went to her place.” She continued.

“You didn’t.” He pleaded as he looked up at her.

She nodded. “I wanted to know why. Why she’d jump. She didn’t even seem surprise to see me, like it was no big deal to see someone who looks exactly like you.” She sighed and leaned back in her chair. “I wanted to see through her eyes what was going on that was so bad to make her jump. And I met her boyfriend.”

“I’m going to stop you right there.” Her brother sighed as he bent his head down to pinch his nose. “Darcy.”

“Not even the worse part. Mike. I, as in Ashley have a ‘work thing’ and I don’t even know what it is.” She put air quotes around the special words. “All it says in her calendar is hearing. And I don’t know what to do.”

“Don’t go. You’re not Ashley.” He stated firmly.

“And what happens Mike, when they figure out that she jumped the same night some stranger woman came home to her house?” She leaned over to whisper. “I want answers. She could’ve been my sister. My real sister.” She sighed and rubbed her hand over her cheek. “We don’t know who our real parents are Mike, and what if we have family out there?”

He stared at her and then looked down at the picture ID. “What do we do?”

She sighed and scratched her head. “I guess I have to go to this hearing, and pray to god, I don’t screw it up.”

* * *

 

A few hours later, Darcy picked up Ashley’s work phone when it ring and took a deep breath. “Hello?”

“Are you ready for this?” A voice spoke.

She pulled the phone away to look at the name before answering. “Sure Art. Just a bit nervous.”

“Just do like we said and it’ll be okay.” He stated with practice ease.

Darcy wondered what was said between them. “Sure. Do you mind carpooling?”

He sighed. “Sure, I’ll be there in front of your apartment in thirty minutes.”

“Thanks.” She hung up and frowned. That gave her enough to go through Ashley’s apartment and look around for clues. She opened the door and looked around to see the Paul wasn’t home and sighed in relief as she walked into the room to the side and saw it was a shared office space. She walked to one desk and saw that it was Ashley’s and sighed. She looked through her notes and tried to make sense of it all. She was a cop. “Shit.”  She muttered to herself as she flipped through the files and frowned. She ran her eyes over page after page. “Ashley, you shot someone.”

“Ash, you okay?” Paul called out.

Darry jumped and turned around, hand over her heart. “Sorry, you scared me. I’m just going over the file. I’m just nervous.” She nodded to the file. “I don’t like hearings.”

Paul nodded slowly as he walked over to stand next to her and looked down at the file. “It’s necessary so you can get back in the field.”

Darcy nodded as she looked back down at the file as she tried to absorb as much as she could. “Art is picking me up in a bit.” She stated in Ashley’s tone.

“Okay, I’ll leave you to it.” He stated and kissed her forehead. “Good luck.”

She nodded and waited until he left before she let out a breath.  She rubbed her forehead as she let the little S.H.I.E.L.D. training she had before the fall kick in before her ride got there.

Time flew by and soon she was in the car with Art and she studied the man silently before she spoke. “Walk it through with me, one more time.” She stated. “Before I go in there. So I don’t forget anything.”

“Ash.” He looked at her with an annoyed look.

“This is serious.” She stated. “My job is on the line.” Darcy felt sick. God this is so screwed up, hell she could be a spy now couldn’t she? “Walk me through it.”

“We were following a lead.” He started the story.

**

Darcy stood in the bathroom after the hearing and felt like throwing up. She’d rather face aliens again, seriously, Dark Elves bring it on. She splashed water on her face and grabbed paper towels to dry it off before she walked out. “Captain wants you.” Art stated as he waited for her right outside.

Darcy stared at him and nodded before she followed him to the Captain’s office and took his lead and sat down. “Well O’Donnell, you still have to pass the Psych Eval, but you passed the hearing.” The Captain stated as he handed her badge and gun. “So just desk duty for right now.”

Darcy blinked and nodded and reached out and took both of them and held them close. “Thank you sir.”

“You’re both dismissed.” The Captain stated. They nodded and stood up and left the room.

“Good job Ash.” Art smiled at her.

“Thanks.” Darcy smiled as she followed him to their desks. She sat opposite of him and stared at the screen and frowned. She didn’t know Ashley’s passwords but it wouldn’t be hard to hack it. She hacked S.H.I.E.L.D, the police computers shouldn’t be hard. She put her gun in the drawer and clipped her badge on her pants and settled in. “So what’s the plan?” She asked Art as she turned to faced him.

“We have this jumper case, Jane Doe jumped in front of a train yesterday.” Art stated.

“Wow.” Darcy’s eyes widened. “Sounds bad.”

“No kidding.”

* * *

 

Darcy sat in the tea shop to wait for her brother and felt like crying. She looked at the phone in the pink phone case and frowned at the five missed calls, three from Beatrix and two from a Sophie. “What were you up to Ashley?”

“How are you holding up?” Mike asked as he set two cups on the table. One tea and one coffee.

“I passed the hearing.” She stated as she sipped the coffee and hummed. “But now we’re investigating Ashley’s death.” She whispered. She looked up at her brother as he hissed. “I know.”

“What are you going to do?” He asked her.

“I don’t know.” She whispered. She pushed the pink phone towards him. “What do you think of this?”

“It’s a burner phone.” He stated as he picked it up to look at it. “Do you think she was having an affair?”

She shrugged. “I don’t think so. She was on some pretty heavy hitting drugs.” She slid the list of drugs to her brother and he hissed again. “I know. I wonder if her shrink had prescribed them. She, as in I have another appointment to pass a psych eval to get back into the field.” She sipped her coffee.

“You’re going all in.” He slid both the phone and the list back to her. “What happens if you get caught?”

“I don’t know. I’m a decent person, no criminal records. Tell them that I thought she could be my sister or something and I wanted to know why she would jump. So the truth and I just got caught up in it.” She shrugged and looked around the shop. “Her boyfriend seems like he always watching me, like he isn’t sure, but at the same time, it’s like he’s testing Ashley and I have wonder to if she was taking those pills because of him.”

“That doesn’t sound like a healthy relationship.” Mike stated and sighed when his phone started to ring. “Cyndi is calling. Tori is having nightmares again.”

Darcy smiled and nodded. “Go, I’ll be fine. Give a big kiss to my favorite girl.”

Mike smiled and nodded. “Will do.” He stood up and left the shop.

Darcy sighed and leaned back in her seat and frowned when the pink phone started to ring again, Beatrix calling again. She picked it up and held it to her ear. “Hello?”

“Ashley?”

Darcy licked her lips and adjusted in her seat. “Yeah.”

“You’re not Ashley.” The woman spoke. “What happened to Ashley?”

Darcy sighed and looked down into her coffee. She wondered, what if. “Are you related to Ashley? I don’t feel like I should just give out information about her to anyone.”

“I am few, no family too, who am I?” The woman asked on the line.

Darcy blinked and looked at the phone. “Is this like the sphinx riddle test?”

The line went dead and Darcy sighed as she hung up on her end.  She set the phone down and chewed on her thumb. “This is too weird.” She whispered.


	2. 2

own Nothing

She went back to Ashley’s apartment that night instead of her own and smelt dinner. “Hey.” She walked into the kitchen to see Paul cooking dinner.

“Hey, I heard you passed the hearing.” He smiled down at her. The smile never reaching his eyes.

“I still have to see the shrink.” She replied as she watched him get out the wine, she followed his movements as he poured them two glasses.  “But desk duty for now.”

“But that’s still better than suspension.” He replied as he handed her a glass.

“Of course.” She lifted up the glass to sip the wine as she watch him turn back to dinner. “Tell me the story about how we met.”

He laughed. “You know the story.” He looked over his shoulder at her.

“Nostalgicsake, just want to get out of my head, hear your voice.” She stated in her Ashley voice, low and flowy.

“Okay.” He turned back to cook dinner. “You were out running, two years ago and I happened to be running on the same trail. I decided to change trails for the first time in months, I just wanted something different and I bumped into you.” He smiled at her. “And we started to run together and after two weeks, I asked you out.”

“Then we moved in together.” Darcy stated as she looked around.

“After two months of dating, you asked me to move in, we fell hard for each other.” He turned around to face her. He leaned down to kiss her. “But you already knew that.”

“Hell yeah I did.” Darcy stated and kissed him again and she felt sick. This was fake, this chemistry, these feelings she was feeling. Paul belong to Ashley, not her. Her life was crumbling all of a sudden. She took another sip of wine. “I’m going to go take a shower.” She stated. “Before dinner.”

“Don’t take to longer, dinner is almost ready.”

“Sure.” She smiled at him and turned to walk into the bedroom.

**

The next day Darcy got into Ashley’s car and was glad it was a weekend, her psych eval wasn’t until Monday, and so she had a few more days to study up on the pills. Her back door opened and closed and she froze. “Ashley O’Donnell I have been trying to find you.” A French accent spoke behind her.

Darcy looked around and froze. “What the fuck?”

“You are not Ashley O’Donnell.” The woman with pretty blond hair and blue eyes spoke.

“No.” she whispered as she stared at the woman.

“Where is she?”

“Can we talk somewhere a little more private?” Darcy asked.

“We are in a car.” The woman spoke like Darcy was an idiot.

“In from of Ashley’s apartment. Her boyfriend is still in there.” She whispered harshly. “Let’s not get caught out here.” She turned around and started the car and pulled out into the street and drove to a park in Hell’s Kitchen. “Okay.” She turned off the car and looked at the amused woman. “Who are you?”

“Isabella Frank.” The woman stated. “Who are you?”

“Darcy Lewis.”

The woman nodded as she stared at Darcy. “Where is Ashley?”

Darcy looked down. “She uh, she killed herself a few days ago. In front of me. Jumped in front of a train.”

“And you took her life?”

“No, I.” Darcy sighed and rubbed her eyes. “I just wanted to know who she was. That maybe she was like my twin. But obviously there’s more to this.” She gestured to Isabella. “She looked exhausted and she wasn’t surprised to see me, I wanted to know what made her jump.”

“So you are not stealing her life?” The French woman asked.

“No. not really, I’m caught up in it right now. I have my own place. I don’t know what to do.” She closed her eyes and groaned. “What are we?” she rolled her head to the side and looked at Isabella.

“I am not the one who tells this.” Isabella stated.

“And who does?” Darcy asked.

Isabella sighed and scribbled down an address and handed it to Darcy. “Meet here tomorrow night, come alone.” Isabella moved to get out of the car and then stared at Darcy. “Alone.”

“I got it.” Darcy stated as she looked down at the address. She waited for Isabella walked away before she turned the car back on and head back to her own apartment. If she was going to continue to live this lie, she had to make a decision she decided. She started to pack up some of her things and cleaned out her apartment. She texted Mike and he came over and agreed that most of it could be stored at his house.

“This is a stupid idea.” He stated.

“What is an even worse idea is that I may need you to go down to the morgue and claim my body.” She replied as she cleaned out her bathroom.

“No. I refuse.” He stated as he glared at her.

“Mike.” She turned to face him. “There was another one!” she shouted. “And she was a hot French girl.”

“Shit.” He sat down on her couch.

“Yeah.” Darcy agreed as she sat down on her floor. “I don’t know what’s going on. But there’s more than two of us. So if I need you, then please go down to the morgue.”

“That’ll kill Tori.” He whispered.

“She won’t know.”

“That her Aunt Darcy is dead?” He asked her.

“She’s seven. Keep her in the dark.” She replied. “And tell Cyndi something, I don’t know what.” She groaned. “Fuck.”

“You are fucked.” He stated.

**

Darcy and Mike sat in the car at the address and both frowned. “Didn’t they tell you to come alone?” He asked her.

“I’m not dying for science.” She whispered. “That almost happened twice already.” She looked at him.  She looked down at the pink phone as it rang, it was Beatrix. “Hello.”

“I am few, no family too, who am I?” She asked.

Darcy snorted. “I don’t know, but I know that there is more of us. Well, I assume you look like me, judging by Frenchie.”  She smirked as Mike rolled his eyes.

“You alone?”

“Half ways, I didn’t drive here alone, in case you girls want to sacrifice me to some kind of demon worship. But I will come in alone.” She swatted away Mike’s pinch at her arm.

The woman laughed. “Dude, no demon worshipping here, its suburbia.”

“That’s where you’d least expect it.” Darcy replied as she unbuckled her seatbelt. “All right, I’m coming in.”

“Back door, knock twice and wait for an answer.” The woman hung up.

Darcy hung up and frowned. “No secret password.” She looked at Mike. “You remember our text phrases for help?”

“You’re not going to get murdered.” He scoffed.

“You don’t know that.” She muttered as she got out of his car and walked across the street and around the house to the back door. She knocked twice and waited for an answer. A woman with the perfect soccer mom suburban haircut and sweater opened the door.

“Come in, and please be quiet, the children are sleeping.”

Darcy nodded and walked into the basement living room and looked around. “Nice place you have here.”

“Oh thank you.” The woman smiled thinly as she looked at Darcy. “So, you’re another one of us. Isabella was right.”

“Isabella. Frenchie.” Darcy nodded. “Yup.”

“She also said you took Ashley’s life.” The woman narrowed her eyes at Darcy.

“Woah.” Darcy held her hands up in defense. “Cool your jets, she killed herself in front of me. She looked right at me and it was like she was seeing right through me.” Darcy sighed and shook her head. “I just wanted to see what was wrong, I thought, that maybe she was like my twin. I was adopted. So I thought we were family. And then suddenly everything engulfed me.” She sat down on the edge on the couch. “I don’t get it. What are we?” She looked up at the woman.

The woman frowned at her. “You really don’t get it do you?” She turned and opened a door on the side of the room. And three other women walked out, one that looked just like Darcy but had darker, shorter hair and paler skin dressing in darker shades of clothing. One wore cat-eyed shaped glasses and half her hair shaved off and dressed and bright clothes and then Isabella. “We’re clones, we’re someone’s experiment.”

Darcy covered her mouth as she stared at the four women in shocked before she let out a breath. “Well at least we’re not aliens.” She finally said.

“That’s it?” The soccer mom asked. “That’s all you have to say?”

Darcy nodded and stood up. “I’m Darcy Lewis.” She stuck out her hand.

“Beatrix Conner.” The shaved head one spoke. “We talked on the phone.” She shook Darcy’s hand. “You already met Issy, and this is Max Black, she works at a bakery in Brooklyn.”

The Soccer mom sighed and shook Darcy’s hand. “Sophie Hendrix.”

“So uh.” Darcy looked around at her new sisters. “So what do we do? Do we know what or who is doing the experiments?”

“No, Ashley was investigating that for us. Before her death.” Beatrix stated “And we don’t know how far she has gotten in the investigation.”

Darcy sighed and put her head in her hands. “Well now I am investigating her death.”  She looked up at the ceiling and groaned. “She didn’t leave notes at the apartment because she obviously doesn’t want Paul to see them, she isn’t supposed to working because she was suspended.” She scratched the back of her head as her phone with off with a text. She pulled it out of her back pocket. “Speaking of Paul.”

“Dude.” Max spoke up. “Are you screwing Ashley’s boyfriend?” She smirked, looking amused.

“No, she is not.” Sophie stated then looked affronted. “Are you?”

“Everything is completely screwed up right now.” Darcy whispered as she looked down at her phone. “What if it is HYDRA?” She whispered.

“What?” Isabella asked.

“What if it was HYDRA that created us, or worse, what if they find out about us and want to do their own experiments on us?” Darcy asked them as she looked up at them. “Is there a way for us to test ourselves, see how we’re different? I haven’t used Ashley’s toothbrush or hairbrush, maybe you could get DNA from that?”

“I can run tests.” Beatrix stated with a nod. “Back at school. I’m an Evo Devo major.”

“Oh.” Darcy smiled. “Political Science, I know you hard sciences don’t care for the soft science but still.”

Beatrix smirked at her. “It’s all cool girl.”

“So we got two smarties, a French Broadway wanna be and waitress. Coolio yo!” Max exclaimed.

“I’ll have you know I graduated from college.” Sophie glared at her.

“This is a little off topic here.” Darcy whispered as her phone got another text. She sighed, it was from Mike. “I have to go. Let me know when you need the samples by.”

“Yeah, of course, I’ll call you.” Beatrix smiled at her, excited.

* * *

 

Darcy walked into the apartment and looked around as she made her way back to the bedroom. She slid of her coat and hung it up and tucked her purse into the closet shelve after taking out her phones. She walked out to the bedroom and started combining numbers from her phone into Ashley’s phone. She finished putting the essential numbers in Ashley’s phone before she put her old phone away back in the side drawer.  She put the phone on the charger and went to the bathroom to get ready for bed.

She was having a weird dream, she felt like she was being tied down and wires poking her. She opened her eyes and rolled her head around and could barely make out scientists all around her. Her brain couldn’t understand it, what was going on, it was a nightmare. She felt like she was swimming in a murky waters as she tried to move. She could hear voices, but she couldn’t understand what they said.

She jolted up with a start and looked around to the morning sun. Paul asleep next to her soundly on his side. She rubbed her eyes and she got out from the bed and walked to the bathroom, she put some toothpaste on her finger and reminded herself to go grab her toothbrush from her own apartment later today as ran her finger over her teeth. She gagged and spat something out, she blinked and stared down at a small pad and wire. She lifted it up to look at it, scared. “It wasn’t a dream.” She whispered as her heart pounded. “We are being experimented on.” She felt her stomach clench and roll and she made it just in time to the toilet to throw up.

“Ash, are you okay?” Paul asked from the bedroom.

Darcy flushed the toilet and leaned over the sink to rinse her mouth out as she stared at the pad. “Yeah, I think it was something I ate while I was out.” She stated. “It’s just hitting me.”  She walked out of the bathroom and into the closet to place the pad into her coat pocket and grabbed a change of clothes.

“Why don’t we just stay in today?” He asked her. “Just relax, it’s your last day before you get back to work.”

She froze, she needed to finish packing up her apartment today. “I was going to help a friend today.” She relaxed a little as she pulled out a shirt from a drawer, it looked comfortable, and probably Paul’s by the way he smiled as she pulled it on.

“Who’s your friend?”

She blinked. “His name is Mike, I knew him a long time ago and just recently met up with him again.” She turned to face Paul. “His sister just died. We were friends and I’m helping him clean out her place.”

Paul frowned as he stared at her. “That’s nice of you. How’d she died?”

Darcy looked down as she grabbed a pair of shoes. “She jumped, in front of train.” Shit, why was she saying this? She should not be saying this to him. She stood up and looked at him. “He’s taking it hard, the whole family is.”

“Okay, you’ll be back in time for dinner?” He asked her.

Darcy nodded as she walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned up to kiss him. “You going to cook something special?” She asked him.

“I just might.” He smiled and kissed her back.

****

Darcy drove in Ashley’s car to her own apartment, she couldn’t very well lie now. She call Beatrix. “So I think I was experimented on last night. I sent you a picture of the thing.”

“Yeah, it’s what they use to measure brain wave patterns. And you said they tested your blood too?” Beatrix asked. “That’s fascinating.”

Darcy sighed, she could hear the tall tell signs of a scientists geeking out. “Focus here please. So say that they’re doing this experiments on us yeah?”

“Yeah.” Beatrix agreed.

“They’d need someone to watch us, to record data and to keep track of us.” She rattled on, she has worked with a scientist before so she knew what went on.

“A monitor.” Beatrix replied. “You think Paul is your monitor?”

“I believe he’s Ashley’s.” She replied as she turned into Hell’s Kitchen. “And what if that blood test tells him or his boss that I’m not her. I’m screwed ten ways to Sunday.”

“You’ve got some pretty colorful language.” Beatrix stated.

“Maybe Max can put it on a cupcake.” She smiled as she turned down her block. “God, I basically told Paul about my brother Mike. Fuck. Fucking hell!” she hit the steering wheel in anger. “What’s worse is that the reason why I told him that I’m doing this is because Mike’s sister jumped.”

“Dude, that’s complex.” Beatrix stated.

“No shit.” Darcy snorted as she pulled up to her Apartment building, Mike already there with a moving truck. “Okay. I’ll switch out the brush and toothbrush and send them to you as soon as I can.”

“Thanks, hey, be safe.”

“Thanks, I’ll try.”


	3. Chapter 3

Own Nothing

Monday morning, Darcy sat in the shrink’s office and looked bored. She could smell a bad doctor a mile away. She’s been through foster care and she’s been through S.H.I.E.L.D and whatever this doctor did to Ashley was only to make her worse. “Now the Captain thinks that you’re fit for field duty, but it’s my job to make sure that understand what you did and to make sure that you feel remorseful for it. That you will think carefully and not draw your weapon again prematurely.”

Darcy stared at the woman with narrowed eyes before she sighed. “No.”

“No?” The woman asked confused.

“It’s a simple word. No.” Darcy repeated.

“Detective O’Donnell.” The doctor started.

“I’m not finished.” Darcy interrupted her. “We are going to get to me being back on field duty, yes.” She nodded. “But first, we’re going to talk about all the bottles of pills you loaded me up on.”

The woman blinked several times. “You asked for those pills, insisted on them because you couldn’t eat or sleep.”

Darcy named off a few of them and looked at her with a frown. “Giving me one or two would’ve just suffice. But you gave me seven bottles.” She leaned over and pulled out files from her bag and set them on the table. “These are studies by other doctors that I found interesting on similar cases where shrinks would prescribe too many meds to police officers and something would happen. I also have a few court cases if you would like.”

“What is your point Detective O’Donnell?” the doctor asked, her voice shaky.

“My point is, you were sloppy in your work and didn’t do your job not by me and maybe not by other cops.” Darcy glared at her. “If I wasn’t so busy saving my own ass, I would’ve gladly informed them of the wrongdoings of this office. So you will sign the field duty paperwork allowing me to get back to work. And I’ll leave you alone. But if I hear that this happens again to another cop, I will take you down.”

The doctor frowned and grabbed the paperwork and quickly signed it and handed it to Darcy. “Thank you.” Darcy stood up and grabbed her bag. “You can keep the files, to remind you to do a good job.” She gave the doctor a wicked smile and walked out of the office. She walked through the bull pen and to the Captain’s office to drop of the paperwork before she sat down at her desk.

“You back?” Art asked.

“I’m back.” Darcy nodded as she leaned back in her chair.

**

Darcy walked up to Tori’s school to pick her up and waited outside the gates as the bell rang like all of the family members there for the kids. She waited patiently as the kids ran out the doors and she looked around for the small girl and laughed when the girl bounded down the stairs. “Aunt Darcy!” Tori shouted as she raced to Darcy and hugged her. “Daddy said you’d be coming to get me.” Tori beamed up at her.

“Here I am!” Darcy smiled down at her before she knelt down to look at her. “Look how big you’ve gotten.”

“I’m the shortest kid in my class.” Tori smiled.

“Well you’re big enough for me.” Darcy smiled as she kissed her cheek. “How about we get some ice cream and we don’t tell your Dad yeah?”

“Okay.” Tori laughed as she grabbed Darcy’s hand and they walked away from the school, not knowing they were being followed. “Daddy says that we’re moving your stuff into our house.”

“Yeah. I’m getting rid of my apartment.”

“But you just got it.” Tori looked confused as they walked to the ice cream shop. “Are you moving in with us?”

“I might, later. Right now I’m staying with someone.” Darcy smiled down at her. “It’s a bit complicated.”

“I think adults just say that to kids when they are too lazy to explain things.” Tori stated as they walked into the shop.

“It’s true.” Darcy laughed as they ordered two small bowls of ice cream and walked back outside to sit at the tables. It was still nice outside, the wind was blowing but the sun was out. “But I want you to stay a kid for as long as you can, being an adult isn’t fun.”

Tori gave her a silly look. “Yes it is!” She laughed. “You get to play pretend all the time.”

Darcy stared at her. “It’s not pretending sweetie if you’re being forced to do it.”

Tori shrugged and ate her ice cream for a bit. Darcy gave her a look before she started to eat her own. “So where’s Daddy?”

“He had to do some adult stuff at the police station, a friend of ours, she died.” Darcy stated lowly. “And he had to go and help them out.” She watched as Tori processed it. “And the next week or so may seem a little weird and I might be busy so I won’t get to visit as much, but I want you to know that I’m okay.”

“Okay.” Tori smiled around her spoon. “You’re weird Aunt Darcy.” She looked up at Darcy and smiled with a funny laugh.

“I believe it.” Darcy agreed and smiled back at her.

**

The next day Darcy came into work and took a deep breath as she walked up to her and Art’s desk. “What’s up Art?”

“We have a lead on our jumper Jane Doe, her brother came in and ID’d her last night, said she’s been missing for a few days. Said that he didn’t think she was suicidal but she was traveling with a Dr. Jane Foster for a few years and being back in New York where the alien attacks happened that killed their adopted mother might’ve trigger her old depression.”

“Really?” Fucking Mike. “So she used to have depression?”

“It seems like she did and apparently she was on HYDRA’s top three page hit list.” Art turned to look at her. “I looked her up when he left. She has a history with S.H.I.E.L.D, trained with them and is wanted by HYDRA because she took down the God of Thunder when they first met. She also knows how to control Dr. Foster and a Dr. Selvig who apparently was control by Loki.” He read from the report. “She had a lot going for her. And she just let it all go.”

No she didn’t. Darcy mused. Ashley did, Ashley fell apart. I’m still here. Jane let me go because I wasn’t needed, but I’m needed here. “So what now?”

“Now, now I want to see about talking to Dr. Foster about her former intern Miss Lewis.” Art stated. “Maybe she can shed some light on her.”

Darcy’s heart stopped. “I hear she’s in the Avenger tower now.”

Art looked at her. “How’d you know that?”

“I had a lot of time on my hands.” Darcy replied with a shrug. “Why don’t we just call first, I bet security there is tight. Let them know we’re coming, or see if she can come here.” When I cannot be here.

“Alright.” Art looked at her. “You make the call, your idea.”

Darcy nodded and turned to face her computer and sighed. She quickly hacked the password and changed it on the first day there, so she easily logged in now. She made herself look like she was looking up the information to call the tower while she slid out her phone and pulled up the number she had stored in there. She picked up her office phone and coughed as she readied her Ashley voice. She dialed the number and got a secretary. “Hello, this is Detective Ashley O’Donnell with the 12th Precinct, I need to get into contact with Dr. Jane Foster, and it concerns her former intern Darcy Lewis.”

Darcy turned to see Art watching her and she gave him a one shoulder shrug to show that she was on hold. “Yes I can leave a message. Tell her to call me back at this number or contact my partner Arthur Bell.” She gave the woman on the phone his number and then hung up. “Well now we wait.” Shit. Darcy mentally cursed. “Do you want coffee?” She asked Art.

“Yeah.” He stated as he watched her. “You know how I like it.”

She nodded and got up and walked to the coffee machine, she did not know how Art took his coffee. She glanced at him to see him staring at her before she turned back around. She pulled out the coffee pot and stared at the old coffee and shook her head. No, this is horrible. She dumped it out, rinsing the pot before she put it back in and got out a new filter and grounds and starting a new pot. She shuffled around the small kitchenette while she waited, found two clean up and rinsed them out just in case and added the coffee when it was done. She mixed in a dash of cream and no sugar because she figured Art was not a sweetener guy and walked them back to their desks. “Here you go.”

Art gave her a look as he sipped the coffee and looked surprised. “This is different.”

“I had a lot of free time.” She replied. “Tried some new things.”

“I like it.” He replied with a nod and turn back to his computer.

* * *

 

“I need your help.” Sophie stated over the phone.

Darcy blinked as she stared at the road as she drove. “What?”

“I think my husband might be my monitor.” She whispered.

“Wow, okay. Breath.” She listened as Sophie took a deep breath. “Okay walk me through your logic.”

“We do not have time for this!” Sophie shouted.

“Hell yeah we do. Soph we have no idea who is doing this to us. We cannot be irrational about this. Now, walk me through it.”

“He’s being secretive, hiding things from me and he gets up in the middle of the night. I bought a little nanny cam and have been recording our bedroom ever since you told Beatrix about Paul.” Sophie’s voice cracked.

Darcy pulled over off the ramp and parked the car in a fast food parking lot. “Have you ever thought that you guys live in a suburban area and maybe he’s going through a phase?”

“You think he’s cheating on me? Oh god, I don’t know what is worse?”

Darcy nodded. “Well I suppose both could ruin a marriage.” She sighed. “Just stay calm and don’t do anything.”

“But what if he’s HYDRA Darcy?” Sophia asked in a whisper, her voice cracked towards the end.

“Does your husband looked like he could snap you like a twig?” Paul could, Paul very well could be HYDRA. Darcy suddenly felt sick.

“No.” Sophie sniffled. “He’s just Donnie.”

“Does he have a job where’s he super high up in the government?”

“He’s a lawyer for an insurance firm. He’s just my husband isn’t he?” Sophie asked her.

“I think so honey.” Darcy sighed, thank god, crisis averted.

“Darcy, I did something very bad.”

Shit. “Soph, what did you do?” She pinched her nose.

“I knocked him out and tied him up in my craft room.” Sophie sniffled again.

Darcy left out a laugh. “I’ll be right there.” She hung up and quickly pulled out of the parking lot and headed to Sophie’s house. She never noticed another car following her.

Darcy got out of the car and knocked on Sophie’s back door and waited to let in. Sophie rushed to the door and looked frazzled. “Oh thank god.” She pulled Darcy into the house. “He’s in the room, and I don’t know what to do. And it’s book club today.” She looked towards the stairs where noise was coming from.

“Fuck.” Darcy stared at her. “The fuck Sohpie?”

“I know, I know. Everything just got away from me.” She cried. “I have to go upstairs, can you interrogate him. You’re the professional.”

“I’m a fake cop.” She whispered.

“Well I don’t know what to do.” Sophie stated at her.

“Give me your phone. You’re actual phone.” Darcy ordered.

“What?” Sophie blinked. “Why?”

“Because, if someone sees me when they’re looking for you, I need to know who there are. Now who’s going to be here and hurry.” Darcy held out her hand.

“Oh, oh that’s smart.” Sophie grabbed her phone and pulled up Facebook and quickly went over the names of her friends. “Okay.”

“Good.” Darcy sighed.

“Sophie! The kids are asking for some chips.” A voice called form upstairs.

“Be right there.” Sophie called out. She walked over and gabbed several bags of chips from the pantry and closed the door. “Good luck.” She rushed upstairs.

Darcy watched her leave before she sighed and walked into the craft room to see a man tied up. “Well you can’t be HYDRA.” She whispered to herself as she walked up to him and pulled off the ear covers and took out the towel from his mouth. “Donnie.” She breathed, mimicking Sophie’s voice, damn she was getting good at this.

“Sophie, why are you doing this, this is insane. Just stop.” He heard noise upstairs. “Is that book club upstairs?”

“Quiet now Donnie.” Darcy ordered, her voice firm. “I have trusted you but you have been keeping secrets from me.” She tapped her finger on the table next to her. “Every marriage has their secrets, it’s only natural, but a healthy marriage Donnie. A strong marriage is built on honesty. And I want ours to be a strong one you understand?”

He nodded over and over again. “I do, I do. But Soph I did nothing wrong.”

Darcy sighed and looked over him then at the glue gun, Sophie was creative in her small time torturing. She looked back at Donnie. “You’ve been hiding things from me Donnie.” She raised her voice slightly, a harsher tone that made him freeze. “You’ve been keeping secrets and sneaking around behind my back.”

“I got up last night to watch cricket.” He cried. “God you’re insane.”

Darcy narrowed her eyes at him and took off the eye mask. “Your wife.” She paused. “I keep this family together and it will be your lies that tear us apart Donnie.” She glared at him. “If I find out about one more lie, you’ll be in trouble, do you hear me?”

He stared up at her. “Yes.” His voice shook as he stared at her.

“Good.” She smiled sweetly at him as she laid a hand on his shoulder and pinch it, and he fell asleep. “That’s useful.” She muttered to herself as she slid the mask back on and stuff the towel back in his mouth. She cupped the ear muffs back on and walked out of the room. She listened for the noise up stairs before she looked out the window to see someone standing there. Paul. “Fuck.” She looked back to the stairs then she quickly walked outside. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing?” He asked her. “Whose house is this?”

“A friend. She’s having book club.” She watched as he looked amused. “What, I can’t have friends other than you?”

He pulled out a gun. “I want answers.”

She inhaled sharply. “Not here. Please, there are children here.” She glanced back to the house and back at the door. “Please. Just follow me home, I assume you have a tracker on my car or something if you found me here.”

“I’ve been following you for days.” He stated. “You can leave your car here. Have your friend drive it home.” He stated.

Darcy took a deep breath and set her keys in a flower pot and nodded as she followed him out of the back yard and to his car. They drove home in silence and quietly walked into the apartment together before he shoved her up against the wall. “What the hell is going on Ashley?” He asked her.

He doesn’t know. Oh shit, he doesn’t know. Darcy searched his face for some sort of clue, but couldn’t see anything. “I’m branching out.” She stated. “I didn’t want to be on the meds anymore, it isn’t healthy.” She pushed against him, trying to fight him off of her.

“And that girl?” He asked her.

Darcy blinked. “What girl?”

He pulled away slightly only to yank her across the room to the coffee table where there were surveillance photos of her and Tori. “This girl. Who is she?”

“She’s Mike’s daughter. He asked me to pick her up from school.” Darcy stated.

“She called you Aunt Darcy.” He stated.

She stiffened slightly. “His sister and I, we looked alike. We could be twins. It was an ongoing joke. She knew who I was up close.”

He pointed the gun to her head. “You’re lying, the way you were with her, you were closer to her. She’s your kid.”

Darcy stiffened. “No she isn’t.”

“You must’ve been what? Early twenties when you had her. I was with Ashley when she was told she couldn’t have kids.” His hold on her tightened. “Who are you?”

Darcy sighed and pushed up from her floor with all of her strength and used her S.H.I.E.L.D fight training and got out of his hold and got the gun away from him. She caught him off guard and was the one holding the gun on him. “I’m the one who’s asking the questions.” She stated. “Who do you work for?”

He stared at her in shock. “You’re certainly not Ashley.”

“Yeah, no shit.” She stated as she watched him watch her.

“Where is she?” He asked her.

“She’s dead.” Darcy replied. “She jumped in front of a train.”

He stared at her for a moment. “You told me this.”

“Yeah I find that I couldn’t lie to you about that.”

He glared at her. “You could just sleep with me though.”

She sighed as she tilted her head in a nod. “It’s a bit complicated.” She whispered. “But I need to know, do you work for HYDRA?”

He blinked, shocked. “What? No.” He frowned. “Why?”

“Because you’re Ashley’s monitor. You let people come into her home and experiment on her and she didn’t know why, she loved you and you let this happen.” Darcy glared at him. “It would make fucking sense if you were HYDRA, they’re assholes like that.”

“You sound like you speak from experience, with HYDRA.” He stated calmly but she could see him clenching his jaw.

“Well, I have a rap sheet apparently.” She stated. “It’s a good thing they think I’m dead now because they want me.”

“Is that why you took Ashley’s life?” He asked her.

“I came here to see why she would jump, that’s all and I was going to leave and then you showed up and I panicked.”

“And that’s your fight or flight response?” He asked amused. “To sleep with her boyfriend?”

“Well, I didn’t have my taser on me. And I just watched Ashley killed herself less than an hour before so.”

“That night.” He stated as he pieced it together.

“Yeah.” She watched as he walked to the kitchen and got out a bottle of whiskey and two cups.

“What’s your real name, I assume Darcy, Darcy what?” He looked at her.

“Darcy will work for now.” She relied as she watched him. “I don’t trust who you’re working for.”

“Because you still think it is HYDRA.” He replied. “Tell me why you’re so scared.”

She blinked and she lowered the gun and walked slowly over to the coffee table and picked up the picture of Tori and her. She sighed and looked back at him to see him watching her curiously. “We’re clones. We’re an experiment and I’m afraid that if HYDRA created us then they’ll want us back, or we’re weapons of some kind. Like the Winter Soldier. Sleeper agents. Or if they didn’t create us, and they find out about us, then they’ll come after us. Come after our families.” She held up the picture. “And I worked really hard to protect them.” She dropped the picture to the table.

“Clones.” He repeated as he stared at her.

“Scientifically, you would be kept in the dark about the bigger picture of the experiment.” She stated. “But you let them into Ashley’s home and they tested me and now they’re going to know that I’m not her.”

“How?” He asked her.

“We think there are genetic markers in our blood for them to tell us apart.” She stated.

“How many are there?” He asked her.

“I think that there more, but I’ve met four so far.” She replied with a sigh. “I’m going to grab a change of clothes and I will be staying somewhere else tonight.”

“Mike’s?” He asked her.

She froze. “If you hurt my family Paul, you or your bosses. I will kill you.” Darcy told him. “I have killed someone before.”

He stared at her and smirked. “I doubt that.”


	4. Chapter 4

Own Nothing

Darcy woke up to a phone call from Art. “Hey.”

“Hey, get up, we have an appointment at the Avenger tower with Dr. Foster.” Art stated. “I’ll pick you up.”

“Uh.” Darcy sat up and stared at the clock. “Why don’t you just go on without me and I’ll meet you back at the office. Paul and I had a fight and I stayed at a friend’s house.” She got out of bed and quietly made her way downstairs to not wake anyone up. She was surprise to see Cyndi already awake and making coffee. She smiled as she took the cup from the Nanny. “It’s all the way in Hell’s Kitchen.”

“What friend do you have out there?” He asked her.

“An old family friend.” Darcy replied. “Look, I’ll see you at the office.” She hung up the phone and groaned.

“It isn’t right, doing what you’re doing.” The older woman stated as she set a plate of breakfast in front of Darcy. “That poor child is going to be confused at your funeral.”

“This is all fucked up.” Darcy replied. “I just got out of going to interview my former boss about my fake suicide.”

“Watch your language.” Cindy glared at her. “You have a child in the house.”

“Yes ma’am.” She smiled and ate her breakfast before she rushed to take a shower before driving to work.  She got to her desk and started to work on some paperwork for a good thirty minutes before Art walked in. “How did it go?”

“Apparently Foster and Miss Lewis had an argument moments before she jumped. The good doctor is in shock, she never pegged the girl to do such a thing and she was a wreck, you should’ve been there.”

“Well.” Darcy swallowed. “I don’t think I would’ve been much help.”

“Probably not.” Art replied. “Well, that basically closes the case up. No wrongful doings, she had depression, she was scared and alone and she made an irrational decision. The family could sew the city for some money.” He shrugged. “But she jumped.”

“Case closed?” She asked.

“Yup.” He replied.

Thank god. Darcy thought with relief as she turned back to computer and took a deep breath.

“So is everything okay with you and Paul?” He asked her.

She blinked and bit her lip. “Yeah, it’s just a change going back to work and everything.” She replied. “He was in one of his moods again you know?” She hoped he knew. Was this something that Ashley and Art talked about?

Art looked at her and sighed. “Yeah, I know. Well, maybe it’ll get better by the end of the day.”

“Hopeful.” Darcy replied as she turned back to her work.

**

She picked up her pink phone as she walked on her lunch break. “Hello?”

“Sup girl?”

Darcy blinked and placed the voice. “Max?”

“Yeah, so this whole monitor thing right? I think my roommate and best friend might be mine.”

“Why does everyone keep telling me this?” She asked out loud. “Am I keeping score?”

Max snortled. “No, but that would be so cool! Anyway, I’m okay with it. She’s cool and I can get probed any time.”

Darcy stopped and frowned. “This is weird, I mean even for us.”

“We are waitresses and we work in a bakery out of our boss’s back room. If her monitoring helps pay for our apartment, I’m all for it!” Max stated.

“But how do you know that she’s your monitor?” Darcy asked.

“Because her Daddy dumped her high spending ass and we became friends and now we’re suddenly able to not scrape by on bills and I know it’s not because I’m a good waitress! I barely work!” Her voice rose in excitement.

Darcy blinked. “Okay. Just be careful and call me if you need anything.”

“Sure thing Secret Agent Lady.”

Darcy rolled her eyes. “I only had training until S.H.I.E.L.D. fell.” She whispered.

“I was totally joking but that’s fucking Awesome!” Max exclaimed before she hung up.

Darcy shook her head and called Isabella. “Hey, is everything okay with you?”

“It is fine.” She sounded rushed.

“Are you sure?” Darcy asked concerned, she looked around and couldn’t see anyone watching her. “You sound upset, is someone there with you?”

“I am being followed. Please keep talking to me.” Issy pleaded.

“Where are you?” Darcy asked. “Do you know who is following you?” Darcy rushed to her car and got in. She started it up and held the phone to her ear. “I’m coming to you, just tell me where you are.”

“I am in Brooklyn, there are these men. They are big.” She sounded scared. “Darcy I do not know what to do.”

“I need you to go into a public place. Starbucks, or a store and wait for me there. Stay on the line, buy a cup of coffee and don’t leave until I’m out front.”

Isabella sniffled. “Okay, I see a coffee shop across the street.” She waited a minute. “They are so close.”

“Are many are there?” Darcy asked. She only had ten minutes are her lunch hour but fuck it, she’ll be late. She had another twenty minutes until she could get into Brooklyn if this light traffic held up.

“Five, maybe six.” Isabella cursed. “Two broke away from the group.”

“They’re trying to close you off.” Darcy stated. “They might be a tactile team.”

“HYDRA?” Isabella asked.

“I don’t know. Can you get across the street?”

“The traffic is almost stopped.” She paused. “I’m going to run.”

“I’m right here.” Darcy stated as she drove into traffic. She suddenly heard a loud horn and people screaming. The sound of the phone hitting the ground. “Issy? Issy? Isabella are you there?”

“Hello?” A woman spoke through the phone.

“Hello?” Darcy spoke. “Who’s this? Where’s Issy?”

“I’m so sorry, she tried to run across and the bus didn’t stop in time.” The woman cried. “I’m so sorry.”

Darcy lowered the phone and hung up as she pulled over the car. She put it in park and cried. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” she cried as she hit the steering wheel. She covered her mouth with the back of her hand and let out a sob. She cried for a good five minutes before she picked up the pink phone and dialed Beatrix. “Issy is dead.”

“What? Are you sure?” She asked.

“I’m sure B, I just listened to a damn bus hit her. She was trying to run away from five guys, she thought they could maybe HYDRA. I told her to just get across the street. If she just got across the street to the coffee shop. I’d be right there.” She cried. “I’d come get her, I’m almost there and I couldn’t save her.”

“It’s not your fault.” Beatrix whispered. “It’s not your job to keep us safe Darcy.”

“I know HYDRA, and I know S.H.I.E.L.D, I could’ve helped her.” She breathed. “If I just got to her in time.”

“Breath, okay, just breathe. We’ll get through this. Together.” Beatrix stated calmly.

Darcy nodded and wiped her tears away and took a few deep breaths. “Okay, god I have to get back to work now.” She looked out onto the road and turned her blinker on and pulled out to turn around. It’ll take her fifteen minutes to get back to work. “How’s the testing going?” she asked as she pulled into traffic.

“It’s going, I’m still trying to figure out the genetic markers and how to tell us apart. But I think I’m close.”

“That’s good.” Darcy sniffed as she wiped away excess tears. “Max thinks she knows her monitor, so be careful with yours.”

“Yeah, I heard about Sophie. Say why’d you did leave her house so soon? She was confused.”

“Paul followed me and I didn’t want a scene. I was glad that she brought back my car that night. I reassured her Donnie was okay, well he isn’t HYDRA at least.”

“Shit, do you think Paul is?” Beatrix asked.

“I think he’s working for someone, but I don’t think he’s working for HYDRA, or if he is, he doesn’t know it.” She replied as she pulled into the police station. “Hey I’ll call you back tonight okay? Be safe.”

“Yeah, you too.” They both hung up.

* * *

 

“Darcy Lewis.” Paul stated when Darcy walked into the apartment that night. He had dinner made on the stove. “That’s your name.”

“To be fair, I don’t know if I want to eat what you cooked, how do I know if it isn’t poisoned?” She asked him.

He sighed and got up and made himself a plate before sitting down and eating it. He took a few bites of everything then looked up at her. She arched her eyebrows and grabbed a plate and made a plate herself and sat down across from him. “You tasered the God of Thunder. Impressive.”

“I also killed a HYDRA agent that was sent to kill me and Dr. Selvig. Does it say that anywhere in your research?” She asked him as she got up to pour herself a glass of water. “Jane was already in New York and Ian, our other intern was back at school. And S.H.I.E.L.D just fell and we didn’t know what was going on. I was looking through all the info going onto the web and then bang, guy comes through the door. Shoots Erik in the shoulder and points his gun at me.” She sat down again and looked at Paul. “I was trained at S.H.I.E.L.D. I was also a foster kid with a strange past. I grabbed the closest knife and I threw it and it hit him in the shoulder. It caught him off guard enough that I got the gun away from him and shot him two in the chest and one in the head. I dragged Erik to the bathroom the patch him up and I locked him in there while I called for help.” She watched for his reaction.

“You’re wanted by HYDRA.” He stated.

“Because I know their science, Jane’s and Erik’s. It isn’t my field but I understand how they work, I’ve been with them for four years. I also have backups to their notes that I kept locked away. I can hack into most government computers, S.H.I.E.L.D included. Took me five minutes, they weren’t expecting it.”

“So you wanted to get out.”

“If I stayed with Jane, I would’ve been safe at the tower. They wouldn’t have been able to get to me.” She stated. “Ashley killing herself and me using it for my death is just a horrible luck of the draw.” She stated.

“So what will you do now?” He asked her.

“Now, I’ll protect my sisters.” She stated as she sipped her water.

“Your clone sisters.”

She nodded. “From whoever is wanting to experiment on us without our permission and from HYDRA.”

“What if HYDRA doesn’t know?” He asked her. “What if you’re just being paranoid?”

“They know.” She looked down at her food and she felt like throwing up. She stood up and took her plate to the sink and looked for tubberware to put the food away. “They killed one of us today. I listened as they chased her into the street to be hit by a bus.” She put all the food away including her plate that she didn’t touch. She put the food in the fridge and the dishes in the sink before looking at him. “They know we’re out there and they’re coming for us.”

He stood up and carried his half eaten plate to the sink and dumped the food into the trash before putting the plate in the sink. “I can keep you safe.”

She looked up at him. “But how can I trust you Paul? You work for them.”

He stared down at her. “They’re going to know that you’re not Ashley and they’re going to want to know who you are.”

Darcy sighed and tilted her head up at him. “The bigger question is what will happen when they realize at the station that I’m not Ashley.”

He placed both hands on the counter on either side of her and looked down at her. “You keep digging yourself a bigger hole here Lewis.”

“Are you going to bury me or pull me out?” She asked him as her phone began to ring. She pulled out her work phone. “Hey Art. Yeah, I’ll be right there.” She hung up and looked up at Paul. “Now I’m investigating my other sister’s death, just great.”

“That’s a deep hole.”

“Fuck you.” She whispered.

“You already did.” He replied.


	5. Chapter 5

Own Nothing

“Jane Doe, blonde, no ID on her, witnesses said that it looked like she was scared, running from someone. Woman said she was on the phone with another woman. Probably a friend trying to help her.” Art stated as Darcy walked into the morgue with him to check the body. “The bus hit her body head on, so we won’t be able to get a positive idea on her by her face, but we’re hoping prints will help us.”

“That’s bad luck.” Darcy stated as she walked into the morgue first and braced herself for the small. “Poor girl.” She stated.

“Yeah, poor girl.” Art stated as he nodded to the EM. Darcy listened with half an ear to the EM as she stared down at the covered body of Isabella. She blinked when Art nudged her. “Come on.”

“Right. Be right there.” She stated and watched as he nodded and left the room. Darcy turned to the EM and pursed her lips. “If anyone else comes asking about the Jane Doe, can you let me know?”

“Like family members?” He asked her confused. “Like if someone wants to claim the body?”

“Anything, other officers, not Art or me. Other agencies, just whatever feels weird. Let me know.” She handed him Ashley’s card. “This seems like a weird one to me.”

The EM took her card and nodded unsure. “Yeah, sure.” He placed it on the paperwork and went back to work and Darcy left the room.

Darcy and Art sat at their desks and worked on some paperwork while they waited for the finger prints to come back. “Ash.” Paul walked into the bull pen.

“Paul.” Darcy looked up and annoyed at him for a second before softening her face. “What are you doing here?” She stood up to greet him.

“I’d thought I could steal you away for lunch. Think your partner could spare you for a bit. Promise to have her bring you back something.” Paul smiled at Art.

Art looked over at Darcy and then back at Paul and took a deep breath. “Sure, something light.”

“Thanks Art.” Darcy smiled at him and grabbed her purse and coat. She followed Paul out and to his car. “So why are you really here?” She asked him as they got into the car.

“I got you a meeting, with my boss.” He stated.  “He’s expecting Ashley, and he wanted me to bring her to a work lunch.” He glanced at Darcy. “Something quick and you’ll be back. I don’t think they know yet.”

“This is bullshit Paul and you know it.” She told him.

“Well what else do you want me to do?” He asked her.

Darcy sighed and chewed on a nail as they drove. “Drop me off a block away from where we’re meeting him. I’ll call him and talk to him through the phone.” She stated as she looked out the window.

“That’s your plan?” He asked her.

“If I had time, I would’ve staked the place out, hacked into their security and set up a live feed and watched him as I talked to him.” She glared at Paul. “How do you think I trolled potential first dates?”

He gave her a look of bemusement before he turned down a street and pulled over. He reached into the backseat and pulled out a laptop case. “Here, use my laptop. Don’t look up porn.”

She looked at him and smirked. “I’ve seen you move Paul, I don’t need something fake.” She laughed and she got out of the car. “Where’s the place?”

“Mama Chello’s three buildings down across the street.” He stated. “Good luck.”

“You too.” She closed the door and walked into the small diner and set up shop in the back.  She quickly ordered a hamburger and a water. And placed a club sandwich for to-go for when she left. She opened up Paul’s laptop to a picture of Ashley and she frowned, well at least both of them had to keep up appearances. She quickly got onto the open wi-fi and masked her trail through several proxy servers before she even went to the security of the café down the street. She was lucky that they did have a security system, but no sound. She groaned and waited to see where Paul would sit. He walked in five minutes later and walked to a table with a man already sitting down, the man blocked from her view and he never got up from it. “Crap.”

“Here you go sugar.” The waitress brought her food over to here. “Careful it’s hot.”

“Thanks.” Darcy made the screen go dark as she quickly ate her food. She finished half of it before she went back to the computer and frowned at the two men on the screen talking. She texted Paul that she needed sound. She watched as Paul pulled out his phone and fiddled with it and she saw that he was calling her. She answered it and put it on mute at first, waiting to see what will happen. He just set the phone on the table upside down and went back to talking.

“Ashley was sorry she couldn’t make it. We were almost here but she was called back to work, a break in the case. I promised to grab her something for her.”

“That’s a shame, I wanted to meet her.” The man stated. “But this gives us time to speak. Her test results, they were different this time.”

“She decided to get off her meds. She has been working with the shrink at work to get better.” Paul stated. “I think an old family friend of hers’ just recently passed on and that scared her, the woman killed herself. Ashley caught a glimpse of what that could leave behind.”

“So you think she’s turning her life around?” The man asked.

“I think she’s getting better.” Paul stated. “But she still has her bad days.”

“We have to be careful Paul.” The man spoke. “With HYDRA out in the open and S.H.I.E.L.D down, we can’t let anything happen to her.”

Darcy narrowed her eyes at the screen as she watched as Paul shifted slightly in his seat. She pushed the end button on the call and redialed Paul. She watched and as picked up his phone and looked at it. He answered it, holding it to his ear. “Ashley, how’s work?”

“Let me talk to him.” She stated.

“I don’t think we can do that tonight.” He stated. “I had plans remember?”

“Cut the shit Paul, he knows I’m not Ashley.” Darcy whispered.

She watched as Paul shifted to stare at the man. “You sure?”

“Positive.” She breathed.

He handed the phone over to his boss and Darcy waited for the man to speak. “Hello Ashley, or would you prefer I call you something else?”

“What do you want?”

“I want you to be healthy, to be happy and to have a normal life.” He replied.

“So you assign us monitors and experiment on us?” She asked in a whispered as she picked at her fries. “Some help you are.” She scoffed as she looked around.

“We didn’t assign you a monitor, we didn’t even know you exist until you stepped into our light.” He stated. “And you’re very fascinating and I can’t wait to meet you in person.”

“Well you can go fuck yourself.” She hung up and set her phone on the table. She groaned and she pulled out her wallet and got up to pay for her meal and Art’s to-go. She noticed two strange men sitting a few tables away and that they were there right after she came in. She felt the air on the back of her neck stand up as they watched her.

“Here you go doll.” The lady stated as she handed Darcy back the change and the to-go bag. “You want a box for the rest of your food?” She pointed to her half eaten burger.

Darcy shook her head. “I’m good.” She needed to get out of here and fast. This is a trap and she was screwed seven ways to Tuesday. She walked slowly to the front of the diner with the laptop bag and the food when she saw a somewhat familiar face. “Hey.” She took a quick turn and set down at a table. “Captain Rogers right?”

He looked up taken a back, he blinked a few times. “Aren’t you Dr. Foster’s intern?”

Darcy shook her head. “You must’ve gotten me mixed up with someone else.” She waved him off. “I’m Decretive Ashley O’Donnell 12th Precinct.” She flashed him her badge.  “I’m in a bit of a pickle actually, I’m on desk duty, injured myself. So I don’t have my gun.” She scrunched her nose. “And there are these two fellas that are strangely watching me and when I got up, they go up, when I just sat down here with you, they sat down again.” She glanced back at the two men to see them acting like they weren’t watching her but they were tense.

“Are you in trouble ma’am?” Steve asked her.

Darcy smiled at him. “I was just wondering if you could kindly walk me to the train station. I’m a bit away from work but this place has the best food.” She held up the to-go box. “My partner and I love it. I’ll pay for your meal too.”

He blushed lightly around the ears. “You don’t have too.”

“If you agree to help this idiot cop out, I sure do.” She smiled at him. “Go on, take your time. I’m in no hurry.”  She sat back in the chair. “So do you do anything fun other then run around and kick ass? Like mountain climb? I bet you’re a cliff jumper kind a guy.” Her eyes widened. “Oh, shit. Sorry.” She covered her mouth. “I did not mean to say that.”

He stared at her for a moment before smiling. “You know it’s been a while since anyone other than the team has teased me.”

“Well, you’re welcome.” She replied instantly.

“I didn’t say thank you.” He smirked at her, blushing a little.

“It was implied.” She laughed as her phone went off. She pulled out the pink phone and answered it. “On a scale of one-to-ten how serious is it?” She paused and frowned as she glanced past Steve. “Hmmm.” She tapped her fingers on the table for a second before answering. “I’m with a friend right now, do you mind if I call you back? Thanks.”

“So we’re friends now?” Steve asked her.

“Yeah.” Darcy smiled at him. “People who save me are totally my friends, it’s in the playbook.”

“Are you ready to go?” He asked her. “What time do you have to be back at work?”

She glanced at the time. “In twenty minutes.”

“You’re not going to make it by train.”

“You have some Ray Bradbury faith in modern technology Rogers.” She replied.

“I know that reference.” He smirked at her and stood up. “I already paid.”

“Well.” She reached into her purse and pulled out a few dollar tip and left it. “For extra measure.” They walked out together and he grabbed her hand.

“Come on, I can give you a ride.” He led her to his bike.

Darcy arched a brow at the bike and hummed. “Wow.” She looked at him and over her shoulder to see the two men watching her. She looked back down the street to see Paul’s car still there and frowned. “Let’s go.” She let him placed her things in the side bags tucked away before they got on. “Just drop me off a little a ways from work. I think they’d freak out with me on a bike.”

Steve smirked at her. “I think my team would say the same about having you on the bike.”

Darcy nodded as she settled against him thinking of Jane and Thor. I bet they would. They took off down the street and within ten minutes they were pulling up only a street away from the station. Darcy got off the bike and Steve helped get her things out of the bags. She checked Art’s food. “Still good.” She smiled up at Steve. “You’re a life saver.”

“It’s in the job.” He replied.

She reached in a pulled out one of Ashley’s cards and handed it to him. “If you ever need a friend, or a favor returned give me a call.”

He looked down at the card and smiled. “Sure thing.” He got back on the bike and took off down the street. Darcy watched him leave before she turned and walked quickly back into the station for the rest of her day.

**

When she got home that night she walked into to see Paul standing in the kitchen. “Who was your friend?” He asked her.

“I literally just met him.” She replied as she walked up to glare at him. “Thanks for throwing me under the fucking bus by the way!” She snapped. “There were two guys waiting to grab me when I left and if I hadn’t spotted Rogers there then I would’ve been screwed.”

Paul froze and stared at her. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“You’re boss had assign a two men grab team to do just that, grab me.” She stated. “But I noticed Captain America sitting there enjoying his lunch so I asked for help. And he gave me a ride to the station.”

“Does he know that you’re Darcy?” He asked her.

“I told him my name was Ashley O’Donnell because Darcy is dead.” She sighed and leaned back against the table. “The lunch was a trap. So either we both we’re set up, or you set me up.” She glared at him.

“I didn’t know about the men.” He stated. “I saw you leaving with some guy on the back of a motorcycle as I was waiting to pull out into traffic to come get you. You wouldn’t answer your phone.”

“It didn’t ring Paul.” She replied. “I can’t. I can’t do this.”

“You need to trust me.” He stated calmly.

“I need to trust the monitor?” She asked him.

“I’m not yours.” He replied.

“I can’t trust you Paul, you just tried to bury me.” She looked at him. “I’m going to Mike’s. I don’t feel safe here.”

“HYDRA is still out there Darcy.” He stated as he stepped up to her. He stepped closer to her until he was only inches away. “My boss was right, if they get ahold of you, or your sisters, it’ll mean trouble.”

“Then we need a plan.” She replied as she looked up at him. “A need to know only plan.”


	6. Chapter 6

Own Nothing

Chapter 6

Darcy came into work early the next morning and sat down at her desk. She blinked when her desk phone starting to ring. “O’Donnell.” She answered. “What? Okay, I’ll be right there.” She hung up and stood back up from her desk and walked down to the morgue. “So someone came to visit the body?” She asked the EM when she entered the cold room.

“Yeah, early this morning, they were asking questions about it. And when I asked for their badge they got angry and sprouted off about talking to my supervisor. But I told them, I was under strict orders not to give out any information unless told by the leading detectives.” He nodded to her. “But they were claiming jurisdiction.”

“Unless it’s a feds case they don’t have it.” She replied.

“I know.” He agreed. “So I told them to bring back proper paper work and to get out of my morgue. I also ask IT to make a copy of the tape for you and Detective Bell.”

She smiled at him. “Thanks. I appreciate that.”

“You were right, this is a weird one.”

Darcy nodded in agreement before she left to go back to her desk to wait for IT to finish the tape. She was making a fresh pot of coffee when an IT guy handed her the disk and Art walked into the station. “What’s that?” He asked as she walked back to her desk.

“So I asked the EM to keep a look out in case anyone weird came asking about our Jane Doe, something just seemed off. Turns out, I was right.” She wiggled the disc in the plastic case in her hand. “She had a visitor early this morning that really wanted to know about her.”

Art arched his brow and stared in amazement. “Let me grab a cup of coffee and let’s watch a movie.”

They sat in front of her computer as the disc played, showing two men coming into the morgue. Darcy frowned, they were the two men from the diner yesterday. They started asking the EM questions. How did she die, When will her body be released, and several more. The EM remained evasive and followed Darcy’s orders and told them that he couldn’t answer questions without the leading detectives there and asked for their badges. That’s when they got angry, one man raised his voice, and the other walked around and used his height and build to try to threaten the EM. “Wow these guys are charmers.” Darcy whispered.

“No kidding.” Art stated as they continued to watch as the EM told them that they had to come back with official papers when they claimed jurisdiction because it wasn’t a federal case when they claimed it was. “Who the hell are these guys?”

HYDRA. Darcy thought with a sickening turn of her stomach. “I don’t know, something bad. And stupid.” She sighed and leaned back in her chair and sipped her coffee. “They’ll be back.” She whispered. “They really want her body.”

Art rubbed his chin and scooted back to his desk. “Most likely, they’re not giving up without a fight.”

Darcy nodded as she watched as the two men left the morgue in annoyance before then end of disc ended. She stopped the disc and took it out and put it up in its case and placed it in her drawer. “That’s what I’m afraid off.”

**

Darcy sat in her normal spot in the coffee shop waiting for Mike when she saw someone familiar. “Captain Rogers, fancy seeing you here.” She smiled at him. “This is a long way for you soldier.”

“To be fair, I’ve been to farther places.” He smiled to her as he took a seat across from her. “So no strange fellas following you?”

“Not today.” She stated as she sipped her drink. “It’s still early.”

His smile dropped a little. “You have me worried a little.”

“It’s the life of a cop.” She stated. “You arrest all kinds of people.” And you catch the attention of others for being a clone. “I’m sure it’s the same for being an Avenger.”

He laughed. “It is.”

Darcy glanced over to see Mike entering the shop, he caught her eye and saw who she was talking to. He snorted and walked to the counter to order. When he got his order, he sat at a table over, so he was close but not to close. Darcy smiled at the reassures of a big brother. “So what brings you to this neck of the woods?”

“I like looking around the city, seeing how it changed, I try to make it to all the boroughs.” Steve replied. “Hell’s Kitchen just happened to be on my list. How’s work?”

She pursed her lips before she took a drink of her coffee. “Its work, working on a Jane Doe, waiting on finger prints to come back.” They’d need Interpol for Isabella’s fingerprints but if one of them had a criminal record, or worked for the government. Darcy let the thought race through her head. She needed to check on it when she went into work. “So it’s a waiting came right now.”

“That’s unfortunate, how did she die?” Steve asked as he drank his coffee.

“She was being chased and she was hit by a bus.” Darcy replied and saw his shocked face. “Yeah, it was bad.”

“That’s.” He stopped when his phone went off, he picked it up and sighed. “I have to go. Avenger business.”

“You have my number.” She replied with a smile. “Let me know when you’re in this side of town next time and I’ll show you around.”

He smiled at her. “I’ll take you up on that.” He stood up and waved goodbye before leaving.

Mike watched him leave before moving over to sit across from her. “What are you doing? That’s Steve Rogers.” He asked in a whisper.

“I know, he saved me from being grabbed the other day.” She replied. “He thinks I’m Ashley, so.” She shrugged.

“Oh, because that makes it all better.” Mike rolled his eyes.

“You shouldn’t do that, or you’ll teach Tori bad manners.” Darcy stated as she pointed a finger at him.

Mike snorted as he gave her a serious look. “What are you planning on doing Darcy?”

Darcy sighed and sat back in her chair. “I just want to have a friend for me. Granted he knows me as Ashley and not Darcy.” She rolled her eyes as she sipped her coffee. “But this whole thing with Clones and HYDRA and Paul, it’s too much.” She set her cup down and begun spinning it in circles on the table. “I need to check Issy and Max’s fingerprints to see if they would match somehow, if mine would match somehow.” She scratched the side of her head. “Being clones and all, fingerprints, DNA everything is all the same.”

“Beatrix should look into that.” Mike replied.

“I can do that when I go to the police station.” Darcy replied back as she picked up her cup again. “I’m working tonight for the late shift. And I can run them then.”

Mike nodded as he sipped his tea. “Alright. I’ll trust you.”

Darcy smiled up at her big brother and took another sip of her coffee. “Thanks bro.”

* * *

 

“DYAD.” Beatrix stated over the phone.

Darcy blinked as she wiped the tiredness from her eyes as she looked up from her work paperwork. “Is that a restaurant that I should know about?” She looked at her email again to see if she got a reply from the Interpol about Issy. She knew the prints would match but waiting was a bitch. “What is it?”

“The DYAD institute is who created us.” Beatrix stated. “Well they contacted me.”

“They contacted you.” Darcy sat up straight, alert as she processed the information. “Hold up.”

Beatrix sighed over the phone. “Look, I may have had a monitor and didn’t tell you.”

“B.” Darcy sat back in her chair. “What the hell?”  Her computer beeped, an email came in from Interpol, Issy’s prints were a match. She sighed as she read through the file again. “We can’t be keeping secrets.” She whispered.

“I know, I know. It’s just I think they can help us. They don’t like HYDRA any-more than we do and they want to protect us from them.”

“But what will they do to us?” Darcy asked her as she got up to make a cup of coffee. “We are not lab rats Beatrix.” She looked around. “Set up a meeting, I’ll talk to them.” She sighed as she made her way to sit back down at her desk. “We have to protect ourselves. I know that they can offer all the science to explain who and what we are.” Darcy took a sip of coffee and then set the cup down. “But Sophie and Max, and you B, you are all that I have. My sisters and Ash.” She whispered as she glanced around. Art wasn’t there, he was off tonight luckily. “Ash killed herself because of this, Issy is dead because of this. We can’t lose any-more of us.”

“I know.” Beatrix sighed. “I’ll be careful. I’ll set you up the meeting in the morning.”

“Thanks, that’s all I ask. I’ll talk to you later.” Darcy hung up the pink phone and tossed it in her purse underneath her desk. She looked over the prints again before she sent them to the printer for the paper file. She looked at the picture of Issy and frowned. She sighed and leaned back in her chaired and typed something on the keyboard and with one final button, the picture was gone. “I’m sorry Issy, but I have to protect our sisters.” She stood up and walked over to the printer and picked up the prints and walked back over and put them in the Jane Doe file. “Jane Doe no more.” She sighed. “Isabella Frank, French national. On a work Visa.” She set the file down on Art’s desk.

She back down at her chair and frowned. She jumped when her office phone rang, she looked over at it, and it was almost eleven at night. She cleared her throat before picking it up. “Detective O’Donnell.”

“Hi, this is Jane Foster, Dr. Jane Foster, you left a message for me.”

Darcy blinked and sat up straight in her chair. “Is there something I could help you with Dr. Foster? Did you forget to mention something to my partner?”

“I just. I just don’t understand how Darcy could jump.” Jane’s voice waivered. “She wasn’t like that.”

“Dr. Foster.” Darcy sighed, her heart broke at her old friend’s words. “I can only imagine how this must be for you, but the case is closed.”

“I know. I just needed. Did it hurt her, when she jumped?” Jane cried over the line.

Darcy went rigid as she remember Ashley jumping. “It was too fast for her to feel it. Dr. Foster you shouldn’t think of Miss Lewis like this. Remember the good times you had with her. Laughter, the smiles. Pain will only keep you down.”

Jane sniffled. “You know, for a moment there, you almost sounded like Darcy.”

Darcy froze and held the phone away from her mouth and cleared her throat for her Ashley voice again. “If that was a comfort, then I’m glad, if not then I’m sorry.” She bit her lip. “You should get some sleep now Dr. Foster, it’s late.”

“Thank you Detective O’Donnell.” Jane hung up the phone.

Darcy place the phone back in the cradle and wiped away the tears from her eyes and sighed.  “What the fuck?” She whispered out loud to herself as a couple of patrol office came in from a beat.

* * *

 

Darcy walked down a street in Brooklyn on her way to Max’s cupcake window to see her on her night off. Darcy walked up to the window and knocked on the ledge as she pulled on a pink phone and sent a text to Max. “Hey.” She smiled as she leaned on the window as a blonde showed up the window. Darcy wore a blue hoodie over her head and big sunglasses, her hair pulled back in a bun underneath her hood. “Sup, is Max here? I hear her cupcakes are the best.”

“Sure.” The blonde smiled at her. “Let me just go get her.”  She disappeared and Darcy could hear some muttering in the shop behind the closed shutters.

Max opened the shutters to see Darcy standing there. “Oh hey. Fancy seeing you here.”

Darcy pulled off the sunglasses and smirked at her. “I wanted to try out this bakery I’ve been hearing about.”

“Oh really, where’s it at?” Max smirked at her. “Oh right, you’re talking about here.” She glanced around.

Darcy laughed. “We are related.” She whispered. “So what’s good?”

“Oh only my sex life. What’s good with you?” She winked at her. “Oh you mean the cupcakes, well we actually have this thing like cronuts, its fries and frosting.”

Darcy furrowed her brows. “Um okay.  Sure.” She blinked as she waited for Max to make for a small batch. It took five minutes for a fresh batch and Darcy stared down at it when Max handed it to her. “It smells…good.”

“Just eat it girl.” Max ordered her. “Caroline is going to come back any minute and is going to start pestering me about you. I sent her off to bug Sophie.” She waved Darcy away look. “We have our own Sophie. She’s European.”

Darcy shrugged and dipped the fry into the frosting and tried it. “Shit this is good.” She smiled up at Max. “So did B tell you that she may have found our creators?”

“Yeah the DYAD peeps.” Max shrugged. “Just tell me to trust them or not.”  She looked at Darcy. “I trust you, you protect us. You got our backs. I don’t know them.”

Darcy nodded as she slipped her sunglasses back on, she could hear Caroline coming back. “I’ll protect all of you. I promise.” She held up the batch. “What do I owe you?”

“On me. You got my back, I got your deserts.” Max smiled at her. “I’ll see you around sometime.”

“Take care of yourself.” Darcy nodded to her as she walked away from the window.

* * *

 

“So you found fingerprints.” Art stated when Darcy walked up to her desk the next day.

Darcy nodded. “I had this weird hunch.” She stated as she shrugged off her coat and put it on her chair, she placed her purse underneath her desk. “I checked with Interpol and got a match. Isabella Frank. She was here on a work Visa.”  She sat down in her chair and looked over at him. “Maybe she fell in with the wrong crowd. Or she saw something she wasn’t supposed to.”

“Well, that is our job to figure it out.” Art stated. “And we’re going to interview her coworkers.”

Darcy arched her eyebrow. “Okay. Now?”

“Yes. Now.” Art stated as he stood up. “Let’s go.”

“Alright then.” Darcy stood up and grabbed her coat and holstered her gun. “Let’s go.” She followed him out of the office and to the car.

They walked into the rehearsal space where Isabella worked and Darcy walked tensely around the building. She looked around to see the actors and dancers as they looked up to see the detectives walk around. She started to hear some whispers as they walked to the director. “Mr. Salvatore?” Art stated as they walked up to the man by the end of the stage. “We wanted to talk to you about Isabella Frank.”

“Did you find her?” The Director asked as he turned to them. He paused as he saw Darcy. “Oh my, it’s like seeing Issy.” He blinked.

Darcy frowned and pulled out her badged. “I’m Detective Ashley O’Donnell and this is my partner Detective Arthur Bell. We have some bad news about Isabella Frank.” She put her badge away.

The director continued to frown at her before Art pulled his attention to him. “She was unfortunately hit by a bus.”

“A bus?” the director asked, in shock. “How? Why?”

“We believe she was being chased and she was running across the street to avoid them.” Darcy stated. “Is there anyone that she was afraid of, that she was having problems with lately?”

“Not anyone here.” The director shook his head as he stared at her. “Are you sure you’re not related to Issy?”

“No, why do you ask?” Darcy asked him. “Wasn’t Miss Frank from France?”

“Yes, she was. But.” He paused and looked over at Art and back at her. “Excuse me.” He walked away and went to get something.

“That was weird.” Darcy stated as she watched him. She looked around the space to see everyone staring at them. “It seems that maybe others share his feeling though, looks like we have an audience.”

“Looks like we do.” Art agreed as he looked around too. He looked back as the Director came back with a headshot.

“This is what caused my confusion detectives.” He handed it to them.

Darcy’s eyes widened as she stared down at the picture of Issy that she was trying too hard to hide. “Wow.”

Art stared down at the picture and over at his partner. “This is weird.”

Darcy’s heart pounded. “Do you mind if we take this?”

“No, please if it helps you.” The Director nodded.

Art handed him a card. “If you remember anything else, give us a call.” They turned and left the building. “So you have a French twin?” He smirked at her.

Darcy snorted as she got into the car. “At least I know I’d look good as a blonde.” She held up the picture. “So what if she knew something and she came here from France to get away from it?” She thought out loud as they drove out onto the street. “They found her, hunted her down, she was scared, called for help. She was trying to get to a safe place.” She looked at Art as she worked through it.

“She was hit by a bus before she could get there.” He finished. “And the perps tried to recover her body to cover up the evidence, and the person she tried to call never stepped forward to help.” He sighed as he rubbed his chin as they pulled into a coffee shop to get a cup of coffee. “But who would do something like this? Was she involved in the Mob, a cult or something?”

Darcy took a deep breath and stared down at Issy’s picture. “Maybe she was running from HYDRA.” She looked up at him. “What’s the harm in looking into her background, seeing if she’s had any run in with them? Someone could know something?”

“I doubt it. Someone like Isabella Frank doesn’t have dealings with HYDRA.” He scoffed.

“Art.” Darcy cut him off as she held the picture up to her face so he could see the resemblance. She was basically shouting at him to understand the bigger picture. “This morning I wouldn’t have believe that someone would look just like me. We just closed a case where a girl, completely ordinary, had a seemly normal life, Darcy Lewis, was on page three on HYDRA’s hit list.” She sighed and set the picture in her lap. “Sometimes, right in front of you isn’t the right picture Art.” She unbuckled her seat belt and got out of the car to walk into the coffee shop.


	7. Chapter 7

Own Nothing

Chapter 7

Darcy stood in the pristine building made out of glass and lights, and frowned as a secretary walked forward to take her coat. “No thanks, I’m good.”

The woman smiled and nodded. “Dr. Leekie is right this way, he is very excited to meet you.”

“I’m sure.” Darcy replied as she followed the woman down the hall way as she looked around the corners and doors for possible exits. Her small S.H.I.E.L.D training and survival instincts kicking in and she was trying to prepare for anything to happen.

“Here you are Miss O’Donnell.” The woman smiled as she opened the door for Darcy. “Would you like tea or water?”

“No thanks.” Darcy smiled and the woman left. Darcy looked around the open office space and frowned as the weird experiments off to the side.

“I see that you could make it. I’m glad.” A man stated as he walked through another door near the experiments, Paul right behind him. “I see that you know Paul.”

“We’ve met.” Darcy stated as she didn’t bother looking at the man who was Ashley’s monitor. “I’m more curious as to who you are. You’re not his boss, not the one who put the two man grab team on me.”

He frowned and looked at Paul then back at her. “I heard about that, yes. I am sorry. I took care of that.”

“They came for one of my Sister’s bodies.” Darcy stated sourly. “So sorry doesn’t cover it.”

“So you’re the protective one.” Dr. Leekie stated as he observed her. “Fascinating.” He made a note on his note pad. “You know when I first heard about you, I was curious. You manage to slip through our fingers and I had to wonder who and why.”

“I don’t care.” Darcy stepped forward. “History is done.”

“No my dear. History is what made you.”

“No.” She growled. “Science is what made us.” She glared at him. “Test tubes and In Vitro and months of planning. Foster care and a loving family is what nurtured me.”

He stared up her and smiled. “My, you do have a bite. Paul was right.” He looked over at Paul. “Like Cerberus guarding the gates of Hell itself.”

Darcy smirked. “That’s a great description.”

“Miss Conner tells me that we have a common enemy?” Leekie stated as he sat down, he gestured to the seat across from him. “HYDRA.”

“The theory is that if they created us that they would want us back, that we were sleeper cells, or weapons like the Winter Solider.” Darcy stated. “But if we weren’t created by them, then they would want us. Clones would fascinate them to no end. You know what they did to Isabella.”

“Yes, they chased her in front of a bus.” Leekie stared at her for a moment, amused. “You seem to know an awful lot about HYDRA, do you happened to have previous experience with dealing with them?”

 Darcy narrowed her eyes at him, taking a deep breath before answering. “They’d want her body, it’s still useful to them even in death.”

“Well we’d try to recover it ourselves, but a certain detective kept us from it.” Leekie replied as he smirked at her.

“I didn’t know if you were HYDRA or not.” She crossed her arms as she remained standing. “I still don’t trust you.”

“We only want to protect you here at the DYAD institute.” He replied.

“Ashley.” Paul interrupted them. “You can trust him.”

“You’re a solider Paul and I’m not going to take trust advice from a man who takes orders for a living.” Darcy silenced him and looked away at his tensed look. “These are my Sisters. Two are dead already and I will not risk anymore so we can be experiments in your lab. I don’t even know why you reached out to Beatrix.”

Leekie studied her for a moment. “You’re fierce devotion to your Sisters who you didn’t even know a month ago is astounding. Really it is, I wonder if all of your attachments are this way or just the ones you feel the need to protect.” He asked her. “Are you aware that your sister, Beatrix is sick? You have a rare disease, some of you get it, and some of you don’t. It a respiratory disease that slowly spreads and we haven’t found a cure yet. But with Beatrix Conner here, studying your sisters and herself. She can find a cure.”

Darcy stared at him. “Are you blackmailing me?”

“I’m offering a truce Detective.” He replied. “HYDRA wants you, all of you, any of you. You can protect yourself, Miss Conner can be safe here. We can offer protection to the others.”

“So we become lab rats and you keep us from becoming lab rats?” She asked him as she stared at him in disbelief. She looked over at Paul who looked tense and angry. “This isn’t my decision to make.” She whispered.

“Yes, by all means, discuss it with your Sisters.” Leekie smiled at her. “It always amazing when subjects become self-aware.” He stood up. “Paul will ride home with you, for your protection. He is your monitor after all. Ashley.” He winked at her. “You are still going by that, since you won’t give us your real name. Paul here won’t us either.” He looked at Paul. “He’s very loyal to his subject, no matter who she is.”

Darcy stared at both at them before turning around and storming out of the office. Paul hurriedly following her to her car. “Wait.”

“Not a word.” She bit out as she got into the car. They drove out of the parking lot and back to the apartment. “Fuck you.” She finally stated as she stormed into the dining area. “Fuck you Paul.”

“I get that.” He stated. “All Leekie wants to do if protect you.”

“He wants to lock us up like lab rats.” She growled at him. She pushed him away as he came up to her. “Do you honestly think he can protect us? From HYDRA?”

“And who do you think can protect you?” He asked her. “The Avengers?” He asked her. “You’re going to call up Captain America and tell him the whole story?”

“Maybe I should.” She stated as she stared up at him. “I’d have someone on my side.”

“I am on your side.” Paul stated. “I’ve been on your side.” He stepped closer to her as she calmed down. “I haven’t told them anything about your family, your name. All they know is that you’re not Ashley.”

“I have to call the others.” She whispered. “They’ll tell him. He needs to stay in the dark.” She pulled out her phone and dialed Sophie first and walked to bedroom and closed the door. She opened the window and slipped outside. She walked down the street as she waited for Sophie to answer. It went to voicemail. “Soph it’s me. Look if a DYAD or a Dr. Leekie calls and wants to talk. I’m Ashley, it’s weird I know. But he can’t know about me, me, okay. Thanks.” She hung up the phone.

She glanced back at the apartment as she continue to walk down the street to the closest station to get to Hell’s Kitchen, she was going to Mike’s home for the night. “B?” She asked when she dialed Beatrix. “Hey. Yeah, I just got done with the meeting.” She walked quickly to the station. “Listen, He told me something, are you sick?” She sighed as she listened to Beatrix explained. “I’m not mad, but I was caught off guard, he had something over me.” She glanced over her shoulder. “He wants us to join forces so you can work on a cure. No I don’t like it. But we all have to decide. So I need to break those genetic markers and see if there’s anything we need to know beforehand.” She stopped when she saw someone on a motorcycle slow to a stop next to her. “Yeah, let me know what you find and call me back.” She hung up.

“You know it’s real dangerous for a dame to walking around when it’s getting late.” Steve smiled at her.

Darcy glanced around. “It’s like not even six at night.”

He laughed. “So where are you heading? Maybe I can give you a ride.”

“Hell’s Kitchen actually, I was visiting a friend and now I’m heading back.” She smiled at him.

“That’s some friend.”

“I work in this precinct so it isn’t a bother.” She laughed as he handed her a helmet. She got on behind him and they drove off towards Hell’s Kitchen. When they got there, she gave him directions to Mike’s house.  When they arrive, she was lucky to see that no one was home. “Thanks for the ride. Do you want to come in?”

He looked up at the brownstone. “Are you sure it’s going to be okay?”

She glanced behind her. “It’s an old family house. It’ll be fine.” She shrugged. “It won’t bite. Come on, how about a cup of coffee.” She walked up the front steps, she waited on the stoop for him to follow her. They walked inside together. She set the helmets on the entry table and walked to the kitchen and started a fresh pot. “So how’s the avenging? Save any new far off countries?”

He smiled at her. “That’s classified.” She laughed and looked around to see that Cyndi made a new pound cake. She cut two slices and put them on plates and handed him one and one for her. “So how is your case? The one with the bus?”

She frowned as she shrugged as she tore off a piece of her pound cake with her fingers. “We got her prints back, she’s French. Here on a work Visa.” She sighed. She looked up at the coffee maker.

“That’s sad.”

“Hey Steve.” Darcy started and paused. She shouldn’t. Really she shouldn’t. She should include the others first before she did this. But maybe, just maybe she could plant the idea in his head.

“What is it Darcy?” He asked her as he watched her space out.

“What made you think I was Dr. Foster’s intern?” She asked him as she looked at him.

He blinked and sat back with a frown. “You uh, you look like her. I heard that she and Foster had an argument about having to let her go. And she jumped in front of a train.”

Darcy nodded. “I worked that case.”

“I’m sorry.” Steve stated. “She uh, she’s well missed at the Avenger facility. I never really met her, I was always gone chasing Bucky and HYDRA leads. But Selvig, Thor and Foster miss her all the time. Dr. Foster can’t stop crying. Keeps a picture by her desk. Thor calls her his Lighting Sister.”

“It said in her file that she took him down when they first met.”

Steve smiled and nodded. “It’s Thor’s favorite story to tell. The other Asgardians have other stories about her too, about her being brave. And that’s why I find it hard to believe that someone so brave would do that.”

Darcy looked down at her pound cake and tried to keep herself from crying. She wanted to tell him so bad. That she was Darcy and that it was someone else who died. The coffee maker ding and she had a reprieve. She took a deep breath and stood up and made them each a cup. “Sorry, I just wanted to ask, because our bus case. The girl, when we went to interview her coworkers they were freaked a bit.”

“How so?” He asked as she set down the cups of coffee.

“She looked just like me, but with blonde hair.” Darcy shrugged. “And I never thought I would look good as a blonde.” She smiled. “But she was chased in front of a bus. She was scared, terrified and we don’t know why.”

“So you don’t think it’s a coincidence that two people who have no connection to you, just happen to look like you?” Steve asked her, curiosity peaked.

Oh, there’s a connection alright. “I haven’t told my partner that I had a run in with Captain America. He’d want an autograph.” She smirked at him. “And we can’t have that.” She winked at him. “But Darcy Lewis was on Page three of HYDRA’s hit list.”

“I did not know that.” Steve stated as he sipped his coffee.

“She brought down Thor and she had access to two scientist associated with the Avengers. Dr. Foster let her go, maybe she was scared. It said in her file that during the battle of Manhattan her Foster Mother died and she supposedly had depression.” Darcy stated. “So her brother said.” She took a sip of her coffee.

He stared at her for a moment. “What are you trying to say Detective?”

“I’m saying. What if HYDRA didn’t believe that Darcy Lewis was dead and thought my bus victim was her?”

“And what you think you’re next?” He asked her.

“Do you believe in Clones Captain Rogers?” Darcy asked him as she stared at him. “You’ve seen what HYDRA is capable of, what advances in science can do. So? Clones? Yes or no?”

“I think maybe you’re trying to find answers to questions you don’t understand.” He stated as he stood up. “Thanks for the coffee.”

Darcy stood up and walked him to the door and handed him the helmets. “When you want to talk some more on the subject.” Darcy whispered as she opened the door. “Look up the address. You can me here.”

Steve stared at her as a car pulled up in front of the house. “Goodbye Detective O’Donnell.”

“Later Steve.” She replied with a nod as her brother, Tori and Cyndi got out of the car. She watched as Steve hurriedly walked past them and Tori raced up to her and hugged her.

“Aunt Darcy.” Tori hugged her.

Darcy knelt down and smiled at her. She glanced over to see Steve staring up at her and Mike staring at Steve. “Hey Pumpkin.” Darcy smiled at her. “Did you have fun today?”

“Was that Captain America?” Tori asked her. “Do you think he knows the Scarlet Witch too?” Her eyes wide. “I love Scarlet Witch!”

“I know!” Darcy smiled. “I think he does.” She whispered with a laugh.

“Come child, time to wash up.” Cyndi stated as she led the child in. Darcy stood up and watched as Steve sped off on his bike. Mike raced up to Darcy and glared down at her.

“What the hell are you thinking bringing him here?”

“I planted an idea in his head.” Darcy stated as she looked down the road. “We need to talk.”

“You bet your ass we do.” He stormed inside. “We agreed to keep Tori out of this. She’s seven.”

Darcy sighed and closed the door behind her. “So our creators contacted Beatrix, I had a meeting.” She stated as she cleaned up the table.

“Shit.” He hissed as he sat down, his head in his hand. “What now?”

“Now, we have to decide if we want to be DYAD lab rats or if we want to be HYDRA prisoners.” She washed the dishes and put the plates away before she grabbed clean mug for him. She reused her own from before and pour new cups of coffee. “There’s no third option.”

“That’s bullshit. I just watch your third option walk out my front door.” He gestured towards the door. “You didn’t tell him did you?”

“I may have planted the idea of clones into his head. But I didn’t out right and say, hey I’m Darcy Lewis and I didn’t off myself. Because that may come as a shock to some people.” She replied. “Besides, I quite like him. And I think he might like me to, sort of. I think. Mutual feelings may be exchanged.” She tilted her hand sideways in a maybe fashion. “I also maybe pushed that HYDRA may want the clones so danger beware.” She shrugged and chugged her coffee.

“You’re a horrible person.”

“Dr. Leekie, the DYAD institute guy called me the fierce protector of my Sisters. The Cerberus of the gates of Hell itself.”

“Well. If the shoe fits.” He sighed as a knock on a door stopped him from enjoying his coffee. “Please, God don’t let it be a bad guy.” He stood up to answer it. Darcy snorted and sipped her coffee in silence as she looked through her phone. “Uh, it’s for you.” Mike called out to her. He walked back to the kitchen as Darcy looked up to see Steve standing there.

“I actually expected you to come back tomorrow.” Darcy replied. “I figured you to be a bit more stubborn. So what changed?”

“I heard the little girl call you Darcy.” Steve stated. “So I asked F.R.I.D.A.Y to send me a picture of you.” He held up his phone. “I also asked her to send me a picture of Detective Ashley O’Donnell and exact match.” He tossed his phone to her. But she didn’t need to look at it. She knew, so she set it on the table and waited for him to speak again. “You were trying to tell me something, you wanted me to know something.”

“Yes.” Darcy finally spoke licking her lips. “Mike, can you bring me your lap top please.” She looked at her brother. She pulled out her pink phone and sent out a group text for an emergency video conference in ten minutes. She set the pink phone down on the table and looked at Steve. “I’m finding a hard time trusting people, I can trust Mike, I’ve knew him my whole life. He’s my brother. We grew up in Foster care together. I can trust you because once I explain, you’ll understand. You won’t have some ulterior motive against me.”

“Mike Lewis is Darcy Lewis’s foster brother.” Steve stated as Mike brought his laptop and handed it to Darcy.

“I think we’re going out for dinner tonight.” Mike stated as he looked at Darcy. “I’ll take the girls, okay.”

“Be safe.” Darcy whispered up to him.

He glanced at Steve then back at her. “You too.” He kissed her cheek and went upstairs to grab Cyndi and Tori before leaving the house. Darcy waited, setting up the laptop and getting Steve another cup of coffee before starting.

“Darcy Lewis didn’t die after the fight with Jane Foster.” She breathed. She gripped her mug handle. “I didn’t die. I just gotten off the phone with Jane and I was so upset, I just wanted to get home and cry. And this woman walked right past me. She started taking off her jacket and her shoes. She dropped her bag to the side. She turned around and she faced me. She had my face.” Darcy stopped and took a deep breath as her voice cracked. “She doesn’t look shocked, upset. No, she just looked tired, like she’s just done with the world. She said something, but I couldn’t catch it and she just walked off as a train came by.” Darcy stared into her cup. “People screamed and were in shock and I had to act fast, so I grabbed her bag. I had to know why.” She looked up at him. “Why did she jump? What was wrong?” She took a deep breath and continued the story.

 

When she finished the story, her cup of coffee was gone and she got up for a new one. “So, what do you think?” She asked him. She watched him from the counter as he processed everything.

“How do I know that you’re telling the truth?” He asked her.

“Easy.” She replied as she walked forward and sat down in front of the computer and logged onto the video conference and called her Sisters. “Steve, meet my Sisters.” One by one they logged on. “Hey girls, I need you to meet someone. You know I wouldn’t do this, if it wasn’t important.” Darcy stated into the camera. She shifted the computer so it showed both her and Steve.

“Shit is that Captain America?” Max asked as she shifted and showed her cleavage a little. “Hell yeah girl, getcha some!” She smirked.

Darcy rolled her eyes.

“Darcy isn’t sleeping with him.” Sophie stated as she stared sternly into the camera as she cut coupons. “Wait, are you with Captain Rogers Darcy?”

“Why are we always talking about my sex life?” Darcy asked out loud. “No. I am not sleeping with anyone. I told him the truth, about us, the whole truth.”

“Dude.” Beatrix coughed from her screen. “That’s complex. How you holding up?”

He stared in awe at them. “Well as experiments go, you’re all prettier than I am.”

Darcy snorted and rolled her eyes as her Sisters all smiled or blushed. “Well, welcome to Clone Club Steve.” She sighed and looked at her sisters. “So the topic of discussion is how HYDRA is hunting us, DYAD wants us to become lab rats and this has no real good outcome.”

“DYAD is our best option.” Beatrix stated.

“Not exactly.” Darcy stated as she tilted her head to Steve.

“You want to bring them to the Avenger Facility.” He stated. “That’s why you told me. But they’ll noticed that they look just like you.”

“But I’m dead.” She gestured in a thoughtful manner. “Darcy’s dead. But don’t you have like Dr. Cho and that cradle thingy? B is sick, the best tech in the world is with the Avengers.”

“But our science and history is with DYAD.” Beatrix argued.

“Then we make a truce with DYAD through the Avengers, because I’m not just handing us over to them. I don’t trust them.” Darcy stated as she turned to stare at her sisters. “Why now? Why now did they all of the sudden decide to come forward? Was it because of HYDRA or because we became self-aware? It’s not fair and it isn’t right? We’re not lab rats, we have souls, and we’re not experiments. This is our lives that we are fighting for. And I’m going to protect you no matter what.” She looked at Beatrix.

Steve looked over at Darcy and he could see the fight in her eyes and smiled. “I won’t let HYDRA take any of you. I can get you guys into the facility, just give me time.”

Darcy nodded but she kept her eyes on the screen. “Trust me, please?”

“Hey, I said I trusted you.” Max stated. “You just have to tell me who to trust and if Captain America’s the guy, then I trust him.” She winked at him.

Sophie sighed. “I used to have a normal life.”

“I’ll try to get it back for you.” Darcy whispered.

“Alright.”

“B.” Darcy looked at her.

Beatrix coughed into her tissue.

“We can get you to Dr. Cho and have Dr. Banner look at you as soon as you want.” Steve stated. “Just say the word.”

“The Dr. Banner?” Beatrix asked. “As in the Hulk?” Her eyes widened. “You know the Hulk?”

“He is an Avenger.” Darcy replied.

“Alright, as long as I can meet Dr. Banner.” Beatrix agreed.

“Then let’s get this ball rolling.” Darcy sighed as she looked at Steve.


	8. Chapter 8

Own Nothing

Chapter 8

Darcy walked into Ashley apartment the next morning to see Art there. “This is, a complete surprise.”

“I came over last night to talk about the case because you weren’t answering your phone. Paul let me in and he left while I waited for you to come back. ” Art stated as he glared at her. “Turns out you left it here when you left it after you walked out after a fight.”

 She looked back at Art and sighed. “Let me change and then we can go to the station.”

“No, do you want to tell me what the hell is going on here?” He asked her as he slapped down pictures onto the coffee table. “I don’t want to bring you in Ash but I will if I have too.”

She stopped and looked at the pictures. They were Max Black mug shots, prints of Max Black. “That’s insane.” She whispered as she looked at Art. “First the French and now this.”  Something was wrong. She flipped the next picture it was Darcy Lewis. “The jumper.” She looked at Art. “What the hell?”

“That’s what I want to know.” He stated. “Max Black, Darcy Lewis, Isabella Frank, and your prints all match.”

Darcy set the pictures down. “There must be some mistake.” Shit this is going to flag some HYDRA heads.

“Where did you go last night Ashley?” Art asked her. “Is there something I need to know about?”

“Are you questioning me Art?” She asked him.

“You said you had a feeling that something weird was going on and that it had something to do with HYDRA and now you’re sneaking off, you’re using a burner phone.” Art stated. “I want the truth.”

“I’m afraid Art, that if you search for the truth, that what you’d find.” She took a deep breath. “It’s certainly not what you asked for.”

“Are you threatening me?” He asked her.

“No.” She stated. “I’m simply stated that HYDRA chased a woman in front of a bus, and they are the reason that another one jumped in front a train.” She looked down at the pictures. “This is bigger than you and me.” She looked up at him.

He narrowed his eyes at her. “You know something. What aren’t you telling me?”

“As my partner, I’m telling you to leave while you’re still on the edge of this.” She stated. “Don’t get in deeper.” She tilted her head to the door. “You should leave. I’ll be there in an hour. Promise.”

He stared at her and sighed. “You’ve changed Ash.” He walked to the door slammed it closed behind him.

Darcy watched as he got in his car but he didn’t drive away, he seem content on waiting for her to leave. She sighed and shook her head. “You have no idea Art. No idea.” She walked to the bedroom to change clothes then the kitchen to grab something to eat real quickly. She walked to the front office as she ate a bowl of cereal, Art still outside in his car, she rolled her eyes as she watched him. She looked through her old files and piled them together to take to the police station. She was done playing this role, she had another to fill. She grabbed a box and filled it with all the file that belonged to the department that she had to return. She put her bowl in the sink and went to the parking garage and packed the boxes in the car before she went up and grabbed her purse. “Here we go.” She whispered. She left the apartment and got in her car and drove to work. She got out and brought in the boxes and handed them off to evidence to be filed away before she went and sat at her desk and waited for Art to arrive. She busied herself with getting the files ready for someone else to handle them. She knew someone else would see them, she wasn’t stupid. But she wanted to prolong it as long as possible. She sighed as she put the DVD of the morgue video into the file and set them on Art’s desk. She signed off in Ashley’s handwriting that she mastered before she started to work on other paperwork.

She looked to see Art standing over her frowning. “What?” she asked him. “Why are you staring?” She went back to doing paperwork.

“Why did you just bring back a backload of files?” He asked her.

“I didn’t realize how much was in my office at home until this morning and they needed to be brought back.” She replied as she reached around and tapped the file on Isabella Frank. “Here’s my part of bus victim file. Ready for you.” She went back to paperwork.

“Bell, O’Donnell, my office now.” The chief stated form his office.

Darcy sighed and stood up and followed Art into the office and closed the door. They both sat down across from the chief and waited. “I want to know where you’re at on the Bus case.”

“We know she’s a French national.” Art stated. “With a close resemblance to Detective O’Donnell.” He tilted his head to Darcy.

“It uncanny.” She deadpanned. We’re clones.

“Do you have any theories?” The chief asked them. Darcy went rigid as Art took a deep breath, she’s been so alert these past few days, she didn’t know who to trust, but could she trust the chief? “Well?” He looked at them both.

“I’ve been investigating a lead that she was being hunted by HYDRA.” Darcy stated suddenly as she watched for a reaction.

“On your own?” The chief asked.

“Yes.” Darcy stated. “She was chased into traffic, she was scared and she looked like me. Someone might know something.”

“That is a stupid ass move O’Donnell.” The chief shouted at her. “I know you just came off a suspension. But don’t make put you back on another one for being reckless.”

Darcy stared at her and was relieve to not see any signs that he would indicate that he would be HYDRA. “HYDRA chased a woman into traffic another woman died jumping in front of train.”

“That case was closed.” The chief stated.

“She was on the top three page of their hit list Sir.” Darcy stated, she could feel Art’s eyes on her now, studying her. “It’s no coincidence that HYDRA is suddenly so active in the city when it wasn’t before.”

“No cop of mine if investigating HYDRA.” He ordered.

Darcy smirked, she had him there. “That’s easy.” She stood up and took off her badge and gun. “I resigned then.” She sat back down. “I’ll have my desk cleaned out by the end of the day.”

* * *

 

“You quit the force?” Sophie asked over video conference as she folded laundry.

“I don’t know if I would take that tone of voice while folding your husband’s tidy whities.” Darcy sighed into her cup of coffee as she sat in Mike’s kitchen.

Sophie scoffed as she set the underwear to the side. “How are we going to investigate anything if you’re not on the inside?” Sophie asked her. She picked up her own cup of coffee and took a drink as she looked at her sister. “Do you really think Steven can keep us safe?”

“I think that out of all three options, HYDRA, DYAD, and the Avengers. The third is the better one. They would know what it would be like to be, well, like us. Steve knows what it’s like to be an experiment, he can keep us from being tested on.”

“I just want my children to be safe.” Sophie whispered as she looked down into her coffee cup.

“Aunt Darcy!” Tori called out as she bounded down the stairs. She raced over to the table and jumped into Darcy’s lap. “What are we having for lunch?”

Darcy smiled and kissed her cheek. “We’ll have lunch in just a bit, I’m busy right now.”

Tori smiled up at her and then looked at the computer. “She looks just like you.” She looked back at Darcy. “Is she your sister?”

“Yes she is. Tori, this is your Aunt Sophie.” Darcy smiled and kissed the top of Tori’s head and hugged her. “Sophie, this is Tori. My niece.”

“Hi Tori, it’s very nice to meet you. Is Tori short for Victoria?” Sophia asked her sweetly.

Tori nodded. “That was my grandma’s name! She passed away.”

“Alright, why don’t you go upstairs and play and I’ll finish up here. We’ll do lunch in a bit.” Darcy smiled sadly.

“Okay!” Tori hugged her and bounced off her lap and ran back upstairs.

Darcy watched her go upstairs before she turned back to the computer. “Sorry, I’m babysitting for my brother.” She smiled at Sophie.

“Is she?” Sophie paused. “She looks just like you.”

Darcy sighed and ran her hand through her hair. “I, uh. Mike adopted her. From me. I was twenty and just starting college and I was scared. Mike had everything figured out. He had a job and a good home. He hired a nanny to take care of her. We never told her the truth. And in light of recent events.” Darcy picked up her cup and took a deep drink. “I want to protect my kid too.”

“Then I think we should go with Steven and the Avengers, to protect our children.” Sophie stated.

Darcy nodded in agreement as she finished her cup of coffee.  “For them.”

* * *

 

“I can get them in.” Steven called her. “I talked to Maria Hill.”

“They’ll need protection for their families.” Darcy replied as she cleaned around the kitchen, she’s been spending a lot of time at Mike’s home and not back at Ashley’s apartment.

“We can do that. Mike and Tori too.” He replied. “Darcy.” He began in a whisper and she figured that he was somewhere in the Avenger facility. “You might have to come in too. They might want to see you.”

“I know.” She sighed as she washed the dishes. “I miss them too. Have you looked into the DYAD?”

“Maria is looking into them, we’re trying to get any info on them before we go talk to them.” He stated.

There was a knock on the door and Darcy looked up. “I have to go. I’ll talk to you later.” She sighed. “Thanks Steve, it means a lot.”

“Anytime.” He hung up.

She pocketed her phone and walked to the front door to see Art there. “Art? What are you doing here?” She asked confused.

“Darcy Lewis.” He stated. She took a deep breath and stared at him. He continue to stare at him. “I’m going to need you to come down to the station with me.” He stated and she could see another officer behind him. “Don’t make this difficult, please.”

She opened the door fully. “Let me grab my coat and keys to lock the door.” She walked back a few feet and grabbed the coat and the set of keys and closed the door and locked it. She put her coat on and followed him to the car and got in the back seat. She sat in silence on the way to the police department and when they arrive, she followed him to the integration room. She sat there quietly when he left her there with a cup of water. She knew he was gathering the evidence, he had questions for her to answer. Things didn’t add up, things didn’t make sense. At least he was kind enough to not handcuff her.

“Do you want to tell me what the hell is going on?” He asked her as he stormed into the room.

She pursed her lips as she stared at the files he tossed onto the table. She reached over and tidied them up and leaned back in her chair again. “Of all the weird shit you’ve seen the past few years Art, tell me what do you make of it?” She asked him. “Because I’ve been trying to tell you something is wrong for a while now but you’re just not seeing it.” She looked up at him.

He glared at her and pulled out the pictures of Max Black, Ashley O’Donnell, Isabella Frank and her own and put them in front of her. “I want to know to know the truth.”

We’re clones. “You’re missing two more.” She stated with a shrugged as she looked down at the pictures. “But I’m not telling you who, I’m protecting them.”

“You are impersonating a Police Officer, that’s a felony.” Art growled at her. “This isn’t a joke.”

“I didn’t mean to.” Darcy glared back at him. “I just wanted to know why.” She reached out and picked up the picture of Ashley. “Why did she jump? Why was my sister so terrified? If you could’ve seen her Art, she was so scared.” She set the picture down. “And Issy.” She reached over and touched Isabella’s photo.

“So you knew all of them?” Art asked her.

Darcy nodded. “That’s how I knew someone would be coming for the body. I was on the phone with her.” Her voice cracked. “I was talking to her when the men chased her in front of a bus, there were five of them. HYDRA.” She looked up at him. “Ashley was investigating and couldn’t handle it, all the meds that the stupid shrink put her of yours put her on. Seven different medications, messed her up. She jumped. She was scared of HYDRA. HYDRA chased Issy. I have to protect what’s left. So I stayed, I kept pretending I was Ashley, let the world think Darcy Lewis was dead because I could do better as Ashley.”

Art stared at her as he processed the information, he stared down at the files. “All of the DNA and all of the fingerprints match. What are you?”

Darcy snorted and rubbed her forehead. “Come on Art, isn’t it obvious?”

The door slammed open and a man walked in. “This interview is over, you have no right to keep my client here.”

Darcy and Art looked up and over at the man. “Client?” Art asked.

“I’m Roger McClain, Attorney at Law, I work with the DYAD institute. Miss Lewis will be coming with me.” The man stated as he reach over and grabbed Darcy’s arm. “If you have any questions, contact me through my office.” He handed Art a card. “Good day.” He led Darcy out of the room.

He led Darcy out of the building and into a waiting SUV. “I didn’t know DYAD was sending a lawyer.” Darcy stated.

“They didn’t.” The man stated as he closed the door behind him. He pulled out a needled and struck her in the neck with it. “I’m with HYDRA. And we’ve been looking for you Miss Lewis.”

“No.” Darcy whispered as her eyes drooped closed.

* * *

 

It was several hours later when Mike stormed into the Police department. “Detective Bell, where’s my sister?”

Art looked up from his desk. “She left several hours ago with a lawyer from a DYAD institute.”

Mike froze and stared at him. “She hasn’t agreed to work with DYAD.” He stated. “Did she take her phone?”

Art stared up him confused and went to check and came back with her phones and handed both to him. “She left both of them.”

“Thanks.” Mike muttered as he held up the pink one and dialed Beatrix. “Beatrix, its Mike. Darcy’s brother, Darcy was taken by a Lawyer saying he worked for the DYAD institute. What was his name?” He asked Art.

“Roger McClain.” Art replied.

Mike repeated and hung up. “Beatrix is going to check with DYAD for us.”

“We can just call them. He gave me a card.” Art held up a card.

Mike narrowed his eyes at Art. “It’s probably a dummy card. DYAD and HYDRA both been hunting for Darcy and her sisters.”

“HYDRA?” Art stopped and stared at Mike. “You think HYDRA took your sister?”

“I think they just waltzed right in here and took her, yeah.” The phone rang. “Beatrix? Yeah? Okay thanks.” He hung up. “There’s no Roger McClain working for DYAD.” He stated as he glared down at the phone. “HYDRA has her.”

“What do we do?” Art asked him.

Mike took a deep breath and held up Darcy’s other phone and shifted through her contacts until he found the right one. He pushed call and held it up to his ear. “Captain Rogers? It’s Mike, Darcy’s brother. HYDRA has Darcy. Whatever you two had plan, it needs to happen now.” He listened to Steve talk. “Okay we can meet you there.” He hung up. “Let’s go.”

“Where are we going?” Art asked as he grabbed his coat.

“Back to my house. You’re meeting Captain Rogers.” Mike stated.

**

It was thirty minutes later that they all stood in the kitchen with a fresh pot of coffee brewing. Mike had his lap top up and both of Darcy’s phones out. “I can contact the other girls and get them to secure locations to be picked up and taken to the Facility.” He told Steve. “I can get Tori and Cyndi somewhere safe until this dies down.”

“I promised Darcy I would keep you guys safe.” Steve told him.

“I got that covered.” Mike assured him. “Just get her sisters where HYDRA can’t get them.”

“I still don’t get this.” Art muttered.

Mike and Steve looked at each other and took a deep breath. “They’re clones. Created by the DYAD institute.” Mike stated. “HYDRA wants them to experiment on them, for whatever reason and Darcy wants to protect her sisters.”

“She’s fierce like that.” Steve stated as the coffee make beeped and he poured them each a cup. He passed them out and took a small sip of his. “I can use F.R.I.D.A.Y to try and locate her but we need to tell the others about what is going on.”

Mike and Art looked at each other confused, what was a Friday? “Okay.” Mike stated. “Let’s get started.” He picked up the pink phone and sent out a mass group text to expect pickups from either Mike or from Art and certain locations because the plan was in motion. Once he got responses back, he nodded to Steve. “We’re good.”

“Alright. I’ll see you guys at the Facility.” Steve stated, as he gave them his number for directions later. “Call me if you need anything or come into any problems.” He set his cup in the sink and left the house.

Mike sighed. “I got Sophie Hendrix.”

“I’ll go get Max Black.” Art stated as he got the address. “See you in a few hours.”

“Good luck.”

**

Maria Hill and Steve walked through the halls of the college where Beatrix Conner attended school and waited outside the classroom where her lab was at. “So they all look like Lewis?” Maria asked in a whisper.

“Exactly.” Steve replied as he scanned the halls. He looked down at his phone. “Detective Bell has Max and Mike is on with to the Facility with Sophie Hendrix.” He pocketed his phone.

“This is bizarre even for us Steve.” Maria stated.

Steve stifled a smile as the lab let out and the students slowly filed out, Steve adjusted his baseball cap over his eyes to hide his face. Beatrix still hasn’t left the class yet and he was curious as to why. Once most of the class has left, they walked in to see her working hard in her station. “Beatrix Conner.”

“Yup.” She replied not looking up.

“Steve Rogers.” He stated.

“I recognized your voice.” She replied as she continued her work. “I’m sorry, I have to finish this before we leave, it’s a big part of my grade and if I don’t then I’m screwed.” She smiled up at them. “I don’t know how good your lab is where we’re going and I just want to get ahead of my work.”

“It’s state of the art.” Maria stated as she walked forward. “What are you working on?”

“Us.” Beatrix stated. “That’s my thesis, is evolutional development. And what’s better than us?” She shrugged as she adjusted her glasses. She gestured to the briefcase on the table next to her. “I have blood samples, hair, everything I need to try and tell us a part.” She saved her work on her laptop. She sent the work to be printed out as she straightened up her notes and started to pack everything away. “Passports, copies of birth certificates, Issy’s death certificate, curtesy of Darcy. I know that there has to be more of us, maybe they’re sick like me.” She grabbed a tissue right as she coughed roughly. She cleared her throat. “Darcy is protecting us from HYDRA, trying to keep us safe, I’m the one trying to keep us alive.” She gathered all the paperwork and tucked it into the briefcase and locked it up. She took off the gloves and threw them away and grabbed her bags and the case. “Ready?”

They turned and all walked out of the room and down to the parking garage, all very alert as they drove to the air strip where the Quinn Jet waited for them. It was a short flight from Michigan to the Avenger Facility, making it in time for Art to get there with Max. The sisters all hugged each other while Steve called an emergency meeting with the Avengers, including Jane and Erik. He had Maria keep the five guests somewhere else while he spoke to the team briefly before hand.

“So what’s this about Cap?” Tony asked as he played on his phone.

Steve took a deep breath as he looked over at Jane who hasn’t looked like she sept in a week. “About Darcy Lewis.”

“This is not funny Shield brother.” Thor spoke softly as he grabbed Jane’s hand as a tear fell.

“I wasn’t trying to be.” Steve stated serious. “Darcy Lewis isn’t dead. She’s alive.”

“Stop.” Jane whispered. “Please.”

“She didn’t jump.” Steve continued. “A detective Ashley O’Donnell jumped. And Darcy took her place.”

“What?” Jane stopped and stared at him. “I spoke to her. She can’t be.”

“F.R.I.D.A.Y. have Maria bring them in please.” Steve stated.

“Yes sir.” The AI stated.

“This will be a shock.” Steve stated. “But none of these women are Darcy.” He looked at Jane.

She furrowed her brows at him in confusion as the doors opened and Maria walked in with two men and three woman, all the woman who looked like Darcy with slight changes. “Oh my god.”

The rest of the team stared in shock as the small group came to stand next to Steve. “This is Detective Art Bell, he was Ashley O’Donnell’s partner. Mike Lewis, Darcy’s brother. And this is Sophie Hendrix, Max Black and Beatrix Conner.”

“How is this possible?” Jane stared at the women in shock.

“We’re clones.” Beatrix stated. “Genetic identicals. We had two more but Ashley and Issy, they’re both dead.”

“How did they die?” Tony asked curious as he stared at them. His eyes wide.

Sophie shook slightly. “Ashley jumped in front of a train, Darcy watched it happen. And Issy, she was chased in front of a bus. Because of HYDRA.” She wiped away tears from her eyes. “And now.” She sniffed.

“HYDRA took Darcy.” Max stated. “We want our sister back.” She glared at the Avengers. “She’s our protector, she kept us safe and now it’s our turn to keep her safe.”

“Darcy’s alive.” Jane whispered, just barely enough for everyone to hear. “My best friend has been alive all this time.” She looked over at Thor. “We have to get her back.”

“And the other thing.” Max stated.

“Other thing?” Tony arched his brow as he looked at Steve.

He sighed and looked at Maria who nodded and pulled up the DYAD institute information. “The DYAD institute created the girls.”

“So they want them back.” Tony stated.

“They say that they can protect us from HYDRA.” Beatrix stated. “But Darcy doesn’t trust them. And now, I can see why.” She looked down and sighed as she lifted the briefcase up and set it on the table. “This is what I have on us. Darcy wanted to have a truce with DYAD through the Avengers, if we can. She knows that you can keep us safe from HYDRA where they couldn’t. We have families, we want a normal life. DYAD wants to monitor us, treat us like lab rats.” She began to cough and barely managed to pull out the tissue from her coat pocket before she cough out blood.

“B.” Sophie rushed to her side. “It’s getting worse.” She pulled a handkerchief from her purse and wiped her mouth.

“You are dying.” Wanda spoke up. “And you still want to fight.”

Beatrix looked up at her and smiled a little. “These are my sisters. We keep fighting.”

“Alright Avengers.” Tony stood up. “Suit up.”


	9. Chapter 9

Own nothing

“You can go straight to hell.” Darcy stated when she woke up.

He smiled down at her. “You know when I heard that Foster dumped you, I was surprised. You were her right hand woman. And were the key person in keeping Erik Selvig alive during the S.H.I.E.L.D. fallout.” He walked around the room as she struggled against the flat surface she was strapped too. “Then you killed yourself by jumping in front of a train, damn that was a complete surprise.” He stopped and stared at her. “I didn’t peg you to do something like that, but I read the reports and your brother said that you battled depression in high school and your mother died a few years ago, I guess it made sense, stressors happen.” He turned on a faucet of water and starter to fill up several buckets of water. “But several of my men started to see sightings of you, with blonde hair, I never thought you would go blonde or fake your death.” He smirked over his shoulder at her.

“You don’t know me at all.” She growled.

“I guess not.” He replied as he turned back to the water. “So I sent them after the girl, they killed her. Well you were dead for sure.” He leaned against the wall and looked at her. “I hoped it was you, maybe. I kind of liked you.”

“The feeling isn’t mutual.” She spat out. “What do you want?”

“I want to know how many of you are there?” He asked as he turned the water off. He carried the buckets over to her and set them down at her feet.

“Three. Two are dead, I’m the last.”  She looked at him. “Triplets separated at birth.”

He laughed and shook his head. “You know I can just find out on my own.” He leaned down and whispered in her ear. “Maybe I can pay a visit to little miss Tori and see what she has to say.”

Darcy turned and glare at him. “When I get out of this, I will kill you.” She told him. “I will burn HYDRA to the ground.”

“There’s the Darcy I know. I knew you wouldn’t jump.” He whispered to her as he took of her shoes and put her feet in the buckets.

“You don’t know me at all you jackass!” She screamed at him. She seethed at him as he walked over to a station with a computer on it and sat down. “I will kill you.”

“Tell me where you keep the backups for Dr. Foster’s work.” He stated.

“Go fuck yourself.”

He smirked and flipped a switch and she screamed as she arched her back trying to get away as bolts of electricity surged through her. It lasted only a minute before he turned it off. “Once again, where do you keep your backups?”

“Fuck….you.” She breathed heavily. Everything hurt inside of her.

“Alright.” He turned the machine back on again and listened to her scream again.

It lasted longer this time and Darcy felt like she was dying, she didn’t know how much longer she could last when the machine finally turn off. “Darcy!” She heard someone screamed her name, it sounded familiar. But her body was shot and she couldn’t process anything right at the moment. The straps began to loosen and she fell forward into awaiting arms as the person lowered her to the ground. “Darcy, I got you.”

She blinked as she stared up into the man’s eyes as she focused. Paul. “Paul?” Her voice cracked. “Where is he?” She turned her head.

“I killed him.” He whispered. “We have to go, can you walk?”

“That’s a stupid question.” She whispered back.

He smiled down at her as he lifted her up and steadied her on her feet, they slowly made their way out of the room and down the hall. He had his gun raised. “Beatrix called Leekie, said they think HYDRA came for you. So I came looking for you.”

“So you’re here on DYAD’s orders.” Darcy asked with a groan. “Always the good solider.”

“I’m here for you.” He told her. He looked around a corner and saw to guards and frowned, he waited for them to walk the other way before they walked across the hall. “I told you I cared about you.”

“You never said that.” Darcy stated as she winced.

“Are you always this difficult?” He asked her.

“Pretty much.” She replied as the alarms went off. “Well shit.”

“Hold on, it might not be from us.” He hushed her.

“Avengers!” A guard shouted from down the hall.

Paul looked down at Darcy and arched a brow. “Friends of yours?”

“Yes.” She breathed as she hugged his side. “We should find a way out of here and fast before they knock the place down.”

“Let’s go.” He wrapped one of her arms around his neck and his around her waist and started to walk down the hall again towards the exit. They walked towards the end of the hall to a dead end and Paul cursed, he turned when he heard guards heading their way. “We need to hide.”

“Sure, where?” Darcy asked him. “There’s literally nowhere.”

There was pounding on the wall in front of them and they stepped back a few feet as the wall came tumbling down to Captain America and Iron Man. “Darcy.” Steve stated as he stared at her, he turned and looked at Paul.

“Steve, Paul, Paul, Steve.” Darcy introduced them. “Paul is Ashley’s, now my monitor. He came to rescue me. He works for DYAD.”  She explained quickly as they heard the guards come faster. “Now I’ve been tortured and I’m in a lot of pain and this has not been fun escaping, can we go now?” She looked at them in annoyance.

“Yes.” Steve picked her up in his arms with ease and handed her to Tony who flew her to the Quinn Jet. He turned to Paul. “You coming with us?”

“My job is to keep Darcy safe.” He told Steve as he quickly turned around and shot at the guards and turned back to face him. “If that’s with you or DYAD it doesn’t matter. Darcy is my first priority.”

“As her monitor?” Steve asked him.

“Look, can we have the conversation on friendly ground?” Paul asked him as he shot another guard and Steve tossed his shield to take out a few others and caught it again.

“We’ll finish it later.” Steve agreed. “Let’s go.”

* * *

 

Darcy shifted on the medical bed as she opened her eyes. “Where am I?” She looked around to see that she was in a medical wing. She shifted in bed to sit up and winced.

“Stop.” Beatrix raced to her side and pushed her down. “You were electrocuted.”

“I know, I was there.” Darcy mumbled. “It hurt, like a lot.” She blinked as she looked up at her sister. “Hey, you’re here.”

“Yeah, because of you. Dr. Cho is working on a cure with me.” Beatrix smiled down at her. “Agent Hill is having negotiations with DYAD because of you. This is all because of you.”

Darcy stared up at her as Beatrix. “What about our families? Our monitors? Are they safe?”

Beatrix nodded as she adjusted her bags. “They’re all safe. Sophie is back with her family and under watch. Donnie was her monitor, he admitted it. After Dr. Leekie informed the monitors that they will be working with the Avengers. But they have to keep it a secret with their subjects.”

“And your monitor?” Darcy asked her as she watched her sister.

Beatrix blushed. “We’re not talking. She betrayed my trust, she went behind my back and tried to give my research to Leekie. So I’m not talking to her.” She sighed and sat down on Darcy’s bed. “Now, that Scarlet Witch on the other hand.”

Darcy smiled at her and grabbed her hand. “I think that sounds awesome.”

Beatrix nodded and dipped her head and laughed. “Yeah.”

“So are you going to ask her out now?” Darcy teased her.

“I don’t know.” She blushed.

They both looked up at the knock at the door to see Jane standing there. “Am I interrupting anything?”

Beatrix stood up from the bed and stepped away. “No, sorry.”

Darcy watched as her sister stuttered and walk out of the room. “If I was still angry about you kicking me to the curb I would say something about it’s not just me that you chase from the room, it’s all of me.” She whispered as she shifted on the bed.

Jane sighed as she walked in the room as she swung her arms by her side as she made her way to the bed. “And if I was still upset with you I would say that if you were going to fake your own death, make sure that you really died. Because I can’t live with this pain.” Jane looked down at her.

Darcy felt the tears well up in her eyes.  “God this is fucked up.” She rubbed her face and winced from her pain. “Fuck that hurt.”

Jane reached out and grabbed her hand. “I’ve missed you, I’m really glad you’re not dead.”

Darcy looked up at her and smiled. “I’ve missed you too. I wanted to tell you so many times Jane. But you didn’t need me anymore.” She sniffed. “You didn’t want me, my sisters needed me. I had to protect them and so I let everyone think I was dead. HYDRA wanted me for your work, because I kept backups locked away. But now, they’re going to figure out that I’m a clone.” She took a deep breath.

“Darcy we can keep you safe.” Jane stated.

“I don’t want to be kept safe.” Darcy replied. “I want to live my life.” She let tears fall as she stared up at her friend. “I can live for something else then just being a science lackey.”

“I never.” Jane cried. “I never thought of you that way.”

“Because I can’t even science the way you need me to, that’s why you let me go in the first place.” She whispered.

“This is all my fault.” Jane bent over and hugged her. “You were hurt and captured by HYDRA because of me.”

“This could’ve happened if I went on a coffee run for you Jane.” Darcy stated. “But now I’m on their radar for a different reason than being your lackey.”

Jane sat up and stared at her. “Don’t call yourself that.”

Darcy sighed and gave her friend a look. “Janey, sweetie I love you. But let’s be honest here. You don’t need me anymore we can still be best friends and yes if this whole thing with the jumping in front of a train fake death didn’t happen, then I would’ve went home. Gotten lonely drunk with some box wine and ice cream hated myself in the morning. Then gotten over our fight in a week or so. We would still be friends.”

“Promise?” Jane wiped her eyes as she smiled at Darcy.

“Yes you dork.” Darcy smiled at her. “Now my sisters need me. I have to be strong for them. There could be more of us. I need more training, so when I get better. I will. And the others, need some basic self-defense too.” She whispered the last bit with a wink.

“You’ve changed Darcy.” Jane smiled at her. “Really, you have.”

“I’ve been told I’m like Cerberus guarding the Gates of Hell when it comes to my sisters.”


	10. Chapter 10

Own Nothing

Chapter ten

 

Darcy was sitting in Mike’s kitchen waiting for Mike and them to get home after a month of being the Avenger’s facility. She only spoken to Mike a few times and he never gave the location to where he was and she could have gotten F.R.I.D.A.Y to track them down, but she figure, her brother should have his secrets too. The door opened up and Tori bounded in. “Aunt Darcy!” She raced over and gave her a hug. “I missed you!

“I missed you too.” Darcy gave her a kiss on each cheek. “Did you have a fun trip?”

“I did!” Tori smiled up at her as Cyndi and Mike walked in with the bags. “Daddy showed us all the places you used to live and he even introduced us to your old friends!”

Darcy frowned as she looked over at Mike who walked past them to grab a cup a coffee. “Which friends were those?”

“A Mr. Matt and a Mr. Froggy.” Tori smiled up as her as she launched into a story about meeting them. Darcy’s eye widened as she looked up at her brother who stood there and leaned against the counter and smirked at her. “They’re lawyers now, isn’t that cool. I want to be one too!”

“That’s nice sweetie.” Darcy hugged her tightly as she continued to stare at her older brother. “Can you take your bag upstairs and put your dirty clothes in the hamper for Miss Cyndi please. Get ready for dinner.”

“Okay.” Tory hopped off her leg and grabbed her bag.

“Oh lordy, you didn’t tell her you were going to see the man did you?” Cyndi stated as she watched the two siblings. She shook her head at them as they stared at each other in silence before she grabbed her own bags and walked upstairs.

“You went and saw Matt Murdock?” She whispered as she covered her eyes.

“What’s the problem? We run into him all the time, he’s blind, it isn’t like he can tell Tori is his and Tori doesn’t know anything.” He shrugged as he poured another cup.

“Let’s just add another person into this already shitty mess.” She hissed. “He’s just starting a business Mike.” She stood up to stand next to her brother. “I haven’t even told my daughter that she’s my daughter. How the hell do you expect me to go to a man and tell me that I have kept this secret from him?”

“Well tell him that you don’t expect him to pay child support.” Mike joked as he took a sip.

“Mike.” Darcy pleaded. “She’s safe with you. As long as HYDRA or DYAD knows about me, they can’t know about Tori. And I certainly don’t want them going after her father.”

“Tori deserves a father Darcy.” He whispered.

She smiled sweetly at her brother. She placed a hand over his heart. “She has one, you raised her, taught her to write, to ride a bike, and help her learn to read. I’m not even a very good mom.” She sighed and pulled away and looked up towards the ceiling. “Maybe, when she’s older we can tell her, and we can tell her this. The world is changing, maybe this won’t seem so crazy to her. Monsters, aliens, clones, adoptions.” She shook her head and crossed her arms. “Do you think Matt is still at his office?”

“He’s a lawyer, he probably lives there.” Mike smirked.

“I should go talk to him then.” She scratched her head. She grabbed both her phoned and her purse before putting on her coat. “Wish me luck.”

“Stay safe.”

* * *

 

Darcy stared at the office door and sighed for the fifth time before she knocked on it lightly before opening it. She looked around to see a woman with light red hair smiling at her. “Hi, I’m looking for a Matt Murdock.” Darcy stepped into the office.

There was some shuffle to the side in a smaller office and the door opened and Matt came out. “Hello.”

“Hey, I don’t know if you remember me.”

“Darcy.” Matt stated hastily. “Your brother called, said you wanted to talk.”

“That traitor.” She muttered and smiled as Matt smirk. “Can we take a walk?”

“This isn’t official business?” Matt asked her.

Darcy shook her head. “No.” she added quickly. “Sadly that can’t be handle simply.”

“And this matter can?” He asked her as he grabbed his jacket and walking stick.

She opened her mouth and then stopped, she could feel the eyes of both the Foggy and Karen on her. “Everything in my life lately is so overly complicated, I’m hoping a talk will help.”

He smiled and closed his office door, seemly satisfied with her answer. “After you.”

They walked down to the street and he held onto her arm as they walked in silence for the first five minutes. When they walked into the park is when Darcy began to relax. She took a deep breath and looked around and enjoyed to the sights of the city. “So Mike said he came to see you?”

“This isn’t about Mike.”

“No.” She sighed.

“Or what kind of trouble are you’re in?” He asked.

“I have to assume he told you something or you picked up on that from your senses.” She gave him a look.

“Don’t give me that look.” He teased her. “I may be blind by I can still sense when someone is staring at me.”

She rolled her eyes and looked around. “Tori.”

He nodded. “She isn’t Mike’s daughter. He told me as much when they stayed the night.”

“She’s mine, I had her in college. I was young and scared. He adopted her, he already had everything in life.”

“He was giving his sister a chance. Did you ever tell the father?” He asked her.

“Not then.” She whispered. “He was also a student, so much going for him and I knew that if I told him, he would do everything for Tori, maybe even quit school. And I discussed it with Mike. He wanted to give both of us a chance. I didn’t want to put the baby for adoption, we seen what foster care is like. I wasn’t going to abort it.”

“You could’ve, it was your right.”

“The father is Catholic.” Darcy replied. “I know we did the whole sex before marriage thing, and he would probably felt guilty about it if he knew. But I wouldn’t want to hurt his faith even more.” She sighed and looked away.

Matt’s heart jumped as he tightened his hold on her. “So Mike took your child in while you went to school. Do you plan on telling her the truth?”

“When she’s older to understand it.” Darcy sighed and stopped. “I wanted to tell the father too. Introduce them, let them see each other, but.”

He could feel her pulse racing, her heart beating fast. She was nervous, panicking. “But?”

“I work with the Avengers.” She sidestepped where he thought she was going next. “HYDRA is constantly coming after me, and just last month I was rescued from a HYDRA base from being tortured.”

“Well in that case you look great.” Matt stated.

Darcy snorted. “Compliments from the blind guy.”

“Tori’s mine isn’t she?” He asked. “That’s what you’re trying to say.”

Darcy stopped and squeezed his arm as a reflex. “Yes.” She whispered.

“You didn’t tell me because you didn’t want me to quit school.” He stated. “But you transferred schools because of it.”

“I didn’t want you to know.” She felt tears roll down her eyes.

He reached up and wiped the tears away. “Your hero complex is astounding.”

She snorted. “I’ve been called a few things. But a hero isn’t one of them.” She leaned into his hand. “Matt.” Her voice broke in a whisper. His fingers could feel her heart beat in her neck, beating faster, she was anxious. “You have every right to get to know her. She is your daughter.”

“I feel there is a clause.” He stated as he stepped closer to her.

“My life is very dangerous and I have to keep her protected from it. I’m just her Aunt, she doesn’t know who I really am. She can’t, not right now, one day.” Her grip on his arm tightened. “Mike keeps her safe from all of this. I remember before we the two of us were adopted.” She tilted her head and sniffed. “You friend, Stick.”

Matt stiffened at the name and held his breath. “Yes.”

“He taught you to protect yourself, how to fight.” Darcy stated. “I’d listen to it sometimes through the floorboards.”

He nodded stiffly, what was she asking of her. “Darcy.”

“Matt, you don’t get callouses like these from being a lawyer.” Darcy grabbed his hand and held it. “Or from just keeping in shape at the gym.”  She let a tear fall from her eye. She took a deep breath and stepped closer to him. She wrapped her arms around him. “If I told you the truth Matt, would you use your skills to protect our daughter?”

For the first time since their walk began, her heartbeat was calm, he knew that she knew who he was, deep inside. He was the Devil in Hell’s Kitchen. The DareDevil. She was okay with it, at peace with it. For their daughter. “Darcy, I’m the Devil.” He whispered into her hair, quietly so nobody could hear him but her.

She sighed and just held him. “I’m a clone, wanted by HYDRA.” She looked up at him. “Am I lying?”

He listened to her heart and he knew she was telling the truth and that was the unbelievable part. “No. You’re telling the truth.”

She lowered her head and listened to his heart. “That’s not even the craziest part.”

“I know.” He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. “I believe you.”

* * *

 

“I guess that giant glowing sign doesn’t bother you does it?” She asked him the next morning as they laid in his bed.

“No, not particularly.” He leaned over and kissed her shoulder. “Is your phone vibrating?”

She sat up and reach over to grabbed one of her phones, it wasn’t the pink one but it was the black one. “Hello? Paul.” She sighed and glanced back at Matt. “I’m busy at the moment.” She scratched her head. “Okay. Fine. I’ll call Rogers and we’ll meet you there.” She hung up and tossed the phone in her purse before she flopped back down. “I have to go.”

“Clone business.” He mumbled into the pillow.

“I think you have some lawyer business to attend too. I did steal you away from your work yesterday.” She smiled as she leaned over and kissed him.

“We never did finish talking about Tori.” He whispered. He looked at her, his eyes unfocused, but she loved staring at them.

“Victoria Mattea Lewis.” Darcy replied. “I named her after my adopted mother, who raised Mike and me.”

“Mattea?”

“So she could have a little bit of her father with her, Matthew.” She blushed. “It’s the feminine form in Italian.”

“And this Paul?”

“Paul is my monitor, he was Ashley’s, now he’s mine.” She sighed and rolled out from the bed. She began to get dressed. “Rogers, is Captain Steve Rogers, from the Avengers.” She turned away subconsciously to get dressed.

Matt sat up and he listened to her heart beating and paused. “And you like Steve.”

“I.” She stopped talking as she finished putting her bra on and grabbed her shirt. “I like that when we met he wasn’t a part of any of this, no history. And he only knew me for me. Granted I told him I was someone else.” She shrugged. “But it gets heavy trying to hide under all the secrecy and the lies and I just wanted to have someone.”

“You could’ve came to me.”

“I didn’t know that.” Darcy whispered. “I told him the truth when the time came, I had to tell someone.” She sat on the bed to put her shoes on and sighed. “I didn’t think he would believe me, I hoped, one experiment to another.”

“I want to be brought in.” He stated. “As your lawyer.”

“I think the Avengers have that covered, Stark might.” She stated as he stood up from the bed and grabbed the sweats from the floor and slid the on.

He stood in front of her. “Then I want to represent Tori. DYAD will want to claim her as property.”

“What?” Darcy blinked as she stood up to meet him.

“Has any of your other sisters been able to have their own children?”

“No, Sophie and Donnie had to adopt.” She thought out loud. “I don’t think Max has any kids that I know of. And Beatrix doesn’t have any that she’s mentioned.”

“So, you, the wild card, the one who escaped their notice, had a child. How? Why? They’ll want answers and Tori will be able to give them that. She’ll be in danger more now.”

“Matt.” Darcy covered her mouth in shock.

“You wanted me to protect our daughter. This is me, protecting her on this side.” He whispered. “I can do both, but without them knowing about the Devil, I need to be the lawyer first.”

“I have to call Mike. Tell him not to let anyone in but me. Then call Steve.” She grabbed her phone. “Get dressed, hurry.”


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter eleven

“Aunt Darcy, who’s that?” Tori asked sleepily as she came down the stairs still in her PJ’s half asleep.

Darcy glanced back to Matt and smiled down at Tori. “It’s my friend. Now Miss Cyndi is going to pack you a bag and we’re going on a little trip.”

“Again?” She looked up confused.

“Just a little sleepover.” Darcy whispered as she picked up the seven year old.

Tori nodded as she wrapped her arms around Darcy’s neck, she looked at the man again and smiled. “You’re Mr. Matt.”

“Yes I am.” Matt smiled.

“I want to be a lawyer too.” Tori smiled as Cyndi came down stairs with a small backpack and Mike right behind her.

“I’ll help you.” Matt assured her.

“Ok.”

“Are you sure about this?” Mike asked Darcy. “They seem to be on our side.” They all walked out to his car and put Tori into her car seat.

 Darcy closed the door and looked at him. “I already called the Avengers and told them we were coming. The GPS trackers on the cars have been activated.”

“We have those?” Mike asked. “Wow.” He scratched the back of head as he looked at Matt. “He’s in on this now?”

“Yes.” Matt stated. “I’m in on this.”

Darcy looked at the other three. “I know this isn’t ideal and Cyndi, I’m really sorry. You didn’t ask for any of this.”

“Child. I promised to look after this family.” The older woman stated. “You still need lookin after.” She hugged Darcy and kissed her on the cheek. “You putting your own child first before you, that’s what a mother does, and you’re finally acting like a real mother.”

Darcy blushed and looked down and away. “I don’t think she would like me very much when she finds out the truth.”

“Hush girl.” Cyndi stated. “She’s a very smart child.” She gave Darcy a smile before she got in the passenger seat of Mike’s car.

“We should get on the road.” Matt stated.

“I agree.” Mike nodded.

Everyone separated into two cars and drove to the Avengers Facility. Darcy sighed as she drove in silence. “Did you call Foggy and tell him?”

“That I’m a father?” Matt smirked. “Or that I’ll need another day off because I’m going to the Avenger Facility?”

“Either.” She sighed. She watched the road as she drove. “You know, I never thought my life would end up like this.” She told him. “If I didn’t stay on with Jane, I would come back home to live with Mike, get a job, eventually I would tell Tori the truth. Tell you. I was so proud when you brought down that guy last year. Fisk, it was amazing. I was going to tell Tori, that’s your Dad.” She pursed her lips.

He reached over and wrapped his hand around hers’. “It’ll be okay Darcy.” He reassured her.

“Promise me, that you’ll look after her with Mike.” She whispered.

He squeezed her hand. “Nothing will happen to you. I won’t let it.”

“Promise me.” She ordered. “My sisters are being hunted by HYDRA. They are dying from a disease that we don’t have a cure for. Our daughter is what matters.” She looked over at him to see him tense in his seat.

“I’ll keep her safe.”

She nodded and turned back to the road and the rest of the drive, they rode in silence.

* * *

 

Darcy stood there and talked quietly with Steve and Maria in Maria’s office while Mike took Matt to the guest quarters.  “So that’s Tori’s father?” Steve asked her.

Darcy nodded as they watched the four civilians through the cameras. “He says that DYAD will be coming for Tori.” She looked at Maria.

“Why is that?” Maria crossed her arms and stood up to stared at the man. “We have an agreement with DYAD.”

“For us.” Darcy stated. “And they think that Tori is Mike’s daughter. But once they find out that Tori is my daughter, my biological flesh and blood. When as Clones we’re not able to have kids. According to B, we’re barren.” She sighed. “So not only did I escaped their noticed, but I had a kid under their noses as well.”

“And he wants to represent Tori?” Steve asked her curious. “Doesn’t he know how dangerous this is?”

“He did bring down Fisk last year.” Darcy explained. “In Hell’s kitchen, with his law firm. Nelson and Murdock.”

“That was him?” Maria asked, slightly impressed. “You sure know how to pick them Lewis.”

Darcy blushed and looked down. “I’ve known Matt for a long time. We were in the same system together. The same orphanage, Mike and I got adopted but Matt lived there after his Dad was killed. So we go way back. Stay friends throughout college. It’s where Mike first went to hide.” She looked at the cameras to see Tori talking to Matt. “We still haven’t told her yet. How do you do that, turn her whole world upside down?”

Steve looked at her, his friend and felt sorry for her. It wasn’t a pity kind of sorry. It was a sorry that this wasn’t something he could easily help her with, he wish he could. Helping her Sisters, he could do. Protecting her family, he could do that too, but telling her daughter, that she was her mother. He wasn’t qualified for that kind of mission. “I think sooner rather than later would be best.” Steve stated.

Darcy looked up at him and smiled lightly. “You’re right. She needs to know. I just wished it wasn’t with all this craziness.” She looked over at Maria. “Can we protect Tori if they come for her?”

Maria nodded. “They can try, but if they will, then they can face the Avenger’s wrath.” She gave Darcy a smirk.

“Thank you.” She gave Maria a smile.

She looked over at Steve and gave him a smile and turned and walked out of the office to go find the others to talk to them. “Darcy wait.” Steve walked out after her. He grabbed her hand and stopped her.

“Steve.” She looked up at him confused.

“Tori’s father.”

“Matt.” She nodded.

“Do you still have feelings for him, like Paul?” He blushed and looked off to the side.

She blinked. “Paul is my monitor, he reports to DYAD. He was Ashley’s monitor before me.”

“He cares about you, more than you think Darcy.” Steve looked down at her as he thought back to the rescue mission and how Paul looked at Darcy. “He doesn’t care who he works for, if you asked him to work with us here. He will. As long as he’s with you.”

Darcy blushed and looked down at her feet. “Still. It’s different.”

“Is it because he’s a soldier?”

“I can never know whose team he’s on Steve. Mine or someone else’s. And yes, he is a soldier and he’ll answer to orders where he gets them from. How can I trust that? It’s different from you because I know where you’re moral compass lies. He hasn’t proven himself to me.” She looked up and he could see tears in her eyes. “He says that he’s kept my identity a secret from them but how do I know that he has really?”

“And Matt?”

“I loved Matt with all my heart when I was younger. I secretly wanted to marry him but he wasn’t that kind of guy. I think he had some issues to work out or something. But when I found out I was pregnant, I knew that he would do anything to help, even quit school and I couldn’t do that to him. So I asked my brother to help me. I care about Matt, enough that I don’t want to ever hurt him. Ever.” She wiped the tears from her eyes and looked down. “And I care about you Steve. But right now. I can’t do this.”

“Because of DYAD.”

She nodded. “I don’t know if when the dust settles if I will be ready to be with someone or not.” She looked at him and tried to smile. “But my Sisters and Tori come first. Their safety comes first.”

“I understand.” He stepped closer and wrapped her in a hug. She sighed and hugged him back.

“I think we were supposed to meet up with Paul today.” She groaned.

“Talk with Tori first. Then we’ll go.” He whispered. “He can wait.”

She pulled away and wiped the tears from her eyes. “Thanks.”

“Anytime.” He gave her a smile.

* * *

 

“Daddy says that if I’m really really good, that I can meet the Scarlet Witch.” Tori stated as she and Darcy walked through the halls of the Avenger facility to go outside to play.

“Well that shouldn’t be too hard, because we know that you are a very good girl.” Darcy smiled at her as they walked out into the bright sunlight. They brought some of Tori’s toy dolls and a blanket and was going to play in the sun for a little bit, just to get out.

“Aunt Darcy.” Tori started as she laid on top of the blanket, she grabbed her favorite doll and started playing. “Everyone is acting like something is wrong.”

Darcy sighed and held up another doll. “What do you think is wrong?”

“That the people who took you might want me next?” Tori looked over at her and saw Darcy frown. “Because we’re so alike.”

“Do you know why we’re so alike Tori?” Darcy asked her.  Tori remained silent for a minute before she began humming a tune. “Tori, when I was younger, I met someone and got pregnant and I was scared. I didn’t know what to do. I wasn’t ready to be a mom.”

“So you gave me to Daddy, asked him to raise me.” Tori stated as she played with her doll. “But you always stayed close by and always came back home.”

Darcy felt tears fall down her cheeks. “Tori.”

Tori sat up and looked at her. “I heard you talk to him. To dad… to Uncle Mike.” She blinked and then smiled. “Miss Cyndi says you’re trying to protect me now from some bad people who want to hurt your sisters. Dad…Uncle Mike says that you always put people before yourself and that you didn’t want to put me up for adoption. That you wanted me, but you couldn’t give me the life you wanted to give me. That you didn’t want to Mr. Matt to leave school.” Tori looked down.

“Tori.” Darcy reach over and cupped her cheek. “Sweetie, I love you so much and I would move the world for you.” She placed her forehead against her daughters’. “I wanted to tell you so many times sweet girl, that you’re mine. All mine.” She kissed her forehead.

Tori used her knees to move over and sat in Darcy’s lap. She wrapped her small arms around Darcy’s neck and held her tight. “Momma.” She whispered into Darcy’s neck.

Darcy’s heart fluttered as she hugged her daughter. “Yes.” She smiled as she cried a little.

“And Mr. Matt.”

“He’s your Dad, your real one.” Darcy nodded. “I’ve known him for a very long time.”

Tori pulled away and looked up at her. “Will I go blind like him too?” She asked innocently.

Darcy laughed and shook her head. “No, he was in an accident and he lost his sight.”

“Oh.” Tori blinked. “But I want to be a lawyer like him.” She smiled.

“He’d love that.” Darcy whispered. “Very much.” She brushed Tori’s hair away from her face. Her phone chimed with her alarm that she set to remind her of the time. “We have to go in now.”

“Okay.” Tori sighed. She crawled out of Darcy’s lap and grabbed her dolls. “Can I meet the Scarlet Witch now?” She asked.

“I think her name is Wanda. And I’m sure we can make that happen.” Darcy stood up and gathered up the blanket. She grabbed Tori’s hand and they walked back inside.

* * *

 

Darcy, Steve and Maria walked into the DYAD building to see Paul standing there waiting for them. “You’re three hours late.” He stated.

“They should be lucky that I came at all.” She replied as she walked past him.  “I was having such a nice day.” She turned around and looked back at him and arched an eyebrow before turning around and walking towards where Leakie’s office was.

“Wrong way.” He called to her. “We’re not going to his office.” He smirked at her, he watched as she stopped and back tracked to them. She turned and faced him. “If you would’ve called me back when I called you the last five times.”

Darcy sighed and pulled her black phone from her back pocket and looked at the call logs. “Six times actually.” She looked up at him. “You must have something important to tell me.” She looked at Steve and Maria. “Us. Something to tell us.”

“This way.” He led them down a hallway to an elevator. “The Director wanted to see you.”

“Dr. Leakie isn’t the Director of DYAD?” Steve asked as they stepped into the elevator and the doors closed.

“Oh god.” Darcy closed her eyes. She opened them and looked at Paul. “You’re fucking with me aren’t you?”

Paul gave her a thin smirk and stared forward. “You’ve sure caught the attention of some high people Darcy.”

Darcy shook her head and looked back at her companions. “I’m sure by now with HYDRA, everyone knows my real name.”

Paul nodded stiffly. “It couldn’t be helped. Your sister Beatrix was worried about you.” He looked down at her, eye traveling over her. “And I had to find you.”

Darcy’s eyes snapped back at him and she stared at him before moving to the elevator door and frowned. “If this goes south, I’m taking Agent Hill’s gun and I’m shooting you.” She stated as the doors opened and they stepped out.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less from you.” He replied as he led them down the hall to a closed door. He opened it and they walked in, he followed and closed the door behind them.

There sat a woman behind the desk working on some paper work. She looked up, her eyes cold as she scanned over the small group. Darcy stilled as she looked at another Clone of herself. The Clone had short hair cut to her collar bone, straight as can be, dark red lips and a black suit. The woman looked over them before standing up. “Good evening, Miss Lewis, Agent Hill, Captain Rogers. It’s a pleasure.”

Darcy listened as Steve and Maria gave their pleasantries as she watched the Clone. “Sup.” She stated.

The Clone’s eyes snapped over to her and her cold eyes held her in amusement. “Miss Lewis.” She breathed as she looked down at her desk for a moment before looking up, like she was gathering information on her. Strategy before the battle. “The one that escaped our noticed, the one HYDRA is so keened for.” She stepped around her desk to lean against the front of it. “You took your sister’s place to protect the others.”

“I’m so glad that you can read a report.” Darcy stated with equal annoyance.

“I also read that allied your sisters with the Avengers, proven with your friends by your side here.” The Director flicked her eyes to Steve and Maria then back to Darcy. “You’re very protective of what’s yours. A fighter.”

“Cerberus of the gates of Hell I believe Dr. Leakie called me.” Darcy replied.

“Hm.” The Clone smirked. “Project Leda, actually.” She stood up and crossed her arms. “But that isn’t why you’re here.”

“Why are we here?” Steve asked her.

“We have most of the history for you and your sisters here. If you allow Beatrix to work here instead, she would have easier access to it.” The Director stated.

“You want to change the terms of our negotiations?” Maria asked her, her voice rising in annoyance.

“Yes.”

“Hold up bitch.” Darcy stated, she held up her hand and glared at the Clone Director.

“Darcy.” Paul spoke up.

“No, quiet soldier boy.” Darcy hushed him. “First off, these are my sisters. Mine.” She glared at the woman. “I don’t even know your name. I care for them, I love them, I protect them and you just want to monitor them, and treat us like lab rats. We’re not lab rats.”  She looked back at Paul who was watching her, all tense and turned back to the Clone. “What makes you better than HYDRA?”

“My name is Michelle Duncan.” She stated as if she was bored and this meeting was already wearing thin on her nerves. “And unlike HYDRA.” She smirked and lifted up a file and held it out to Maria. “The DYAD institute owns the property rights to you.”

“What?” Rang out across the room.

“The Fuck?” Darcy asked jaw slacked.

Maria grabbed the file and opened it and looked it over before closing it and handing it to Darcy. Darcy opened it and looked down at the file and frowned as her heart pounded. “Just because they made us in test tubes and used fucking science.” Darcy looked up and glared at the Clone in front of her. “Does not make me fucking yours.” She stopped and blinked. “Wait… wait a second.” She opened the file and looked through it again.”

“What is it?” Steve asked her.

“You said most of our history is here.” Darcy stated as she looked up at Michelle. “That’s why she wants B here.” She closed the file and smirked. “Where’s everything else?” She watched as Michelle stared at her. “You don’t have everything. That’s why you need us. You’re missing something and it’s easier now that we’re all aware of ourselves. You need us.”

Michelle inhaled and squared her chin as she stared down her nose at Darcy. “You don’t have a choice.”

“Bitch I’m a free person. You don’t own me.” Darcy replied. “I’ll fight you and I’ll keep fighting for my family, all of my family.” She held up the file. “This doesn’t mean shit to me. You can’t make a person, and then enslave them for the rest of their life.” She looked at Maria. “Our agreement with DYAD stands. We will continue to work with the Avengers, any new information that is successful in curing Beatrix illness, we will send to them. But our lives are our own.” She glared at Michelle. “If you, your thugs, or any other monitors not already set in place come near any of our families. I will march in here and I will end your pathetic life.”

“Darcy.” Steve warned her as he watched her with admiration.

She looked up at him and took a deep breath before stepping closer to Michelle. “I’m two sisters down and if I’m force to lose another and it’s between them or you. It’ll be you. You just rub me the wrong way.” She glared at Michelle. She wiggled the file. “I’ll be taking this to show the girls.” She stepped back and stormed out of the office, Paul following after her.

Maria looked over at Michelle. “You should’ve warn me that you were going to spring yourself on Lewis today.”

Steve looked over at her. “You knew?”

Maria nodded. “Miss Duncan is who I deal with directly with negotiations. Dr. Leakie just oversees the science division.” She looked at Michelle. “I’ll send over a revision agreement with the updated information from tonight’s meeting over tomorrow.” She turned and left the room. Steve gave one last look to Michelle before following after them.

*

Paul followed Darcy to the elevator and inside of it. “I tried to warn you.” He stated.

“I know.” She breathed. “I just. Today was a hell of a good day and I just didn’t want to ruin it.” She looked up to the ceiling. “I guess not every sister can be a good sister.”

He leaned against the side of the wall and looked at her. “Hey.” He started.

She looked over at him. “Hi?” She smiled awkwardly. “What’s up?”

“You know one day, I want to meet the real you.” He stated as they rode the elevator down.

“Paul, are you asking me on a date?” She asked him.

He smiled. “I believe I am.” He stepped off from the wall and looked down at her. “I miss seeing you every day, talking to you.”

“It wasn’t me though.” She shook her head. “I was someone else.”

“I kind of knew you were someone else the moment that I saw you.” He whispered. “Ash would never wear that beanie.” He leaned down and kissed her.

Darcy stilled for a moment and let it happened before she pulled away. “I can’t.” She whispered. “Paul. There’s too much right now.” She looked up at him.

“Is it Steve?” He asked her, his eyes dark.

She rolled her eyes. “God you’re both jealous.” She smiled as the doors opened and she stepped out and walked out into the lobby. “My family has to come first, my sisters.”

He stepped in time with her, they walked right outside the doors. Away from prying ears and eyes of security cameras. “You don’t know if you can trust me.” He stated.

“I don’t know.” She replied honestly. “I think it would be useful to have someone of the inside DYAD. But I worry all the time if I can trust you because I can’t trust them.” She looked up at the building and using the file to cover her face she turned and asked him. “Do they know about Tori?” She asked him quietly.

“What?” His eyes widened. He shook his head. “No. I haven’t said anything about her. I destroyed the pictures.”  He looked serious as he stared at her. “You think they might try and take her from you.”

“You saw the shit she just tried to pull. That we’re property.” Darcy sighed. “Just keep your ears open for anything.” She lowered the file.

He nodded as Steve and Maria walked out of the building to meet them. “Call me if you need anything. And please pick up when I call you, it might be important.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry it took so long.  
> End of school and then I moved to another state.  
> So a lot was happening all at once.  
> so here is a chapter for you to enjoy!  
> thank you!


	12. Chapter 12

“Dude, that’s bullshit.” Max stated over the phone. “I am no one’s property.”

Darcy snorted as she pinched her nose and tilted her head back as she sat in Matt’s office. “I know Max. That’s why we’re fighting back.”

“With your baby daddy?” Max laughed.

Matt snorted from across his desk and Darcy glared at him as she thought about flipping him off but didn’t want to waste the energy on a blind man. “Yes with him. And Tony. Did you get the new Clone Phones from Mike?”

“Yeah, got it last night when he came to my window to get a cupcake. He’s a cutie, you’re brother.”

“I don’t know what to say to that.” Darcy mumbled. “Please don’t make me say anything to that.”

“But not like I want to bang him cute, because like, wouldn’t he be my brother too, kind of? Right?” Max asked her and Darcy could tell she was just screwing with her and she could tell that Matt could hear it too judging by the way he was barely holding it in now from across from her.

“Far be it for me, if you want to be Sisters and Sister-in Laws.” Darcy replied. “But first we have to deal with the important shit of DYAD wanting to lock us up in the dungeon.”

“Um, who wants to lock who in the dungeon?” Foggy asked as he walked by Matt’s office.

“Got to go.” Darcy hung up the phone. She looked up at Foggy and sighed, she leaned her head against the wall as she stared up at him and wondered that if she just stared at him if he would just go away. She wanted less people to know the better.

“The Case that Darcy had asked me to help her out on.” Matt stated. “With the Avengers.”

“Oh right, just you. Just you and only you and all of the Avengers. And not your partner. Who is your best friend. Who you’ve known for years and runs this business with you.” Foggy rambled on.

“So.” Darcy made a popping sound with her lips and smirked. “You’re not miffed or anything?”

“No. Why do you ask?” Foggy asked her with a smile.

“Matts’ helping me. Because I’ve known him since we were kids, grew up in the orphanage together, with my brother Mike.” Darcy replied. “I was recently held captive by HYDRA and tortured and this case is to figure out why. I wanted a lawyer that I knew and trusted outside SI.”

“So you chose our boy Mathew.” Foggy glanced at Matt who suddenly looked tense as Darcy spoke.

“That and I know his secret.” Darcy stated as she watch as Foggy jumped back and stared at her in shock.

“Darcy.” Matt started. “You can’t just come out and say it like that.”

“What?” She snorted. “He totally knew it.” She rolled her eyes. “I rolled my eyes by the way, in complete disbelief in all of this.”

“How does she know?” Foggy asked him.

“Apparently she’s always known.” Matt shrugged as he worked on his special brail laptop. “She confronted me about it.”

Darcy smirked at him. “You are the father of my child.”

“Hold on. Wait? What?” Foggy turned out of the office. “Karen! Come in here.” He called for Karen, the strawberry blonde to come over. She stood in the doorway with him. “Our Matt here is apparently a father.”

“What?” Karen looked at Matt shocked, her jaw slacked, eyes wide.

Darcy pointed up to his friends. “I’m glad that your friends can’t in believe such a thing.”

“That I could never get a girl pregnant?” Matt muttered. “Or that she could keep a secret for over seven years.”

“Now who sounds miffed?” Darcy muttered under her breath as she looked out the window. “She turns eight next week actually.”

Matt stiffened. “Am I invited?”

Darcy snorted. “Yes. Of course. She would be furious if you were weren’t invited. She loves Scarlet Witch and lawyer stuff.” She shrugged.

“Oh that little girl that was here with her Dad a few weeks ago and her nanny?” Karen asked as she looked between Darcy and Matt. “She’s your daughter?”

“Mine and Matt’s yeah.” Darcy stated. “Freshman year of college, I transferred out when I found out, I didn’t want him to drop out because of me.” She gave Matt a smile. She shifted when she felt her phone ring, she looked at her Clone Phone but it wasn’t that one, it was her other one. “Uh, I have to take this, it’s important.” She picked up the black one and answered as she made her way out of Matt’s office and down the stairs.

“Why does she have two phones?” Foggy asked Matt.

“Her life is very complicated to put it simply.” Matt stated.

“So.” Karen whispered as she stepped near his desk. “You have a daughter.” She smiled down at him.

Matt smiled, a light blush curling up on his neck. “Tori, she’s uh. She’s a lot like me and Darcy. Nothing gets by her honestly.” He rubbed his cheek. “I just wished that I knew her as she was growing up. But Darcy just didn’t want me…” He took a deep breath. “She wanted Tori to have a good life. Mike, her brother raised Tori as his own. Darcy stayed close and it may have saved her life with HYDRA.” _And DYAD_ he thought.

“It’s just out of all of us, you were the first with a kid. Wow.” Foggy scratched his head as he processed it. “And her Mom works with the Avengers. And she’s hot.”

Matt laughed. “Is she? I couldn’t tell, I wasn’t with her for her looks.”

“Good answer.” Darcy stated as she leaned against the door. “Hey Matt. That was Art. I have to meet with him.”

Matt sat up straight in his chair as he listened to her heartbeat. “Is there something wrong?”

“Isn’t there always?” She asked him. “Want to come?”

“Sure.” He stood up and grabbed his coat and cane.

* * *

 

“I’m so excited to work with you.” Beatrix stated when she walked into the lab with Dr. Banner. “I mean, I know that they had to track you down and everything.”

Bruce nodded silently as he looked down at the tablet with all of the information of the Sister Clones on it. “It’s not every day that you get to work with something weirder than yourself.” He paused and looked up at her. “Sorry.”

“No, go ahead dude. I was thinking the same thing. You’re like my idol. I was completely in love with you…” She coughed into her tissue. “Your science.”

He blushed as he walked over to his old work station. “Well. Your science is quite fascinating. I met Darcy Lewis once. She was…” He looked down and smiled. “She reorganized my whole filing system within an hour and brought me this curry from an Indian place that I didn’t even know existed and told me to woman up and get over the Hulk on her second day here. She’s a force to be reckoned with. That’s for sure.”

“She’s the one fighting for us. The soldier on the front line.” Beatrix stated as she looked down, biting her lip. “Against DYAD and HYDRA.” She sighed and scratched the shaved part of her head and realized that she needed to get it shaved again soon. Something so mundane had passed her mind.

Bruce watched her as some thoughts passed through her mind with some consideration. “She’s strong.”

“But are the rest of us?” B asked him back, worried. “I’m dying Dr. Banner. How long do I have to save my sisters? How long do I have to give Darcy more time to save all of us?”

 “We’ll find a cure.” He whispered as he looked up at the screen as F.R.I.D.A.Y sorted through all of the data. “We just have to find the original Geno. Then we can figure out the cure.” He gave her a small smile. “Together, we’ll figure this out.”

* * *

 

“You’re what Donnie?” Sophie stated as she stared up at him in shock from her craft room table. She stopped cutting coupons as she stared at her husband, scissors stilled in her hand.

“Okay, honey. Can we, please put the scissors down. There are children in the house. Just upstairs doing homework.” Donnie reasoned.

Sophie pursed her lips as she stared at him. “Well you should’ve thought of that Donnie before you told me that you were leaving me.”

“I uh.” He wiped his forehead. “Look, I know that you are mad because of me being the whole monitor for DYAD thing and lying about it.”

“Why would I be mad sweetie?” She gave him a thin shark like smile as she crossed her arms at the wrist, scissors still in her hand. Her arms stretched out like a cat, ready to claw. “You just almost ruined our marriage and all that hubbub.”

“Yeah…that.” He looked down and tried to focus on his breathing. “Soph… I did something horrible. And I can’t tell you. Because. Well. I don’t want you to get in trouble for it.”

She blinked as she watched him curiously. “Donnie. We’re already in trouble. Do you think DYAD is just going to let you go? You’re my monitor, you’re married to me.”

“I killed Dr. Leakie.” He shut his eyes as he looked like he was going to vomit.

“You what?” Her breath was caught in her throat. “Dr. Leakie is dead?”

“He got in my car and I was so angry when I found out the truth and everything just happened all of the sudden. I mean how dare that man?” Donnie glared at her. But his anger wasn’t towards her, he was just angry. “You’re my wife, I’m supposed to take care of you. And I just wanted answers.” He wiped away the tears from his eyes. “It was an accident.”

Sophie stood up and hushed him before his voice could get any louder. “Where’s the body?” She asked him.

“In the car.” He looked down at her calm face.

“And the gun?”

* * *

 

“Hey Art.” Darcy stated as she and Matt met up with Art at the local diner in Hell’s Kitchen. “What’s up?”

“What do you know about this?” He slid a picture over to show her. It was a picture of a fish symbol, not something that Darcy had seen before. “I was going through some of Ashley’s old files and this fell out. She was trying to keep it hidden between files. But I think it’s something that betaines to you girls.”

Darcy gave him a look before looking down at the photo and frowned. “No, I’ve never seen it. But I can have F.R.I.D.A.Y analyze it and maybe see if that’ll get us somewhere. We can find something there.” She looked up at him. “Do you mind if I take the photo?”

“No, go ahead. It’s a copy.” He told her. “Who’s your friend?”

She nodded to Matt. “This is Matt Murdock, of Nelson & Murdock.”

“You helped bring down Fisk.” Art stated as he stuck out his hand.

“He wants a hand shake.” Darcy whispered. “To thank you.”

Matt smirked and stuck out his own hand. “It’s in the job, bringing down bad guys, Detective Bell.”

“I should’ve realized, I apologize.” Art stated after they pulled their hands away. He glared lightly at Darcy. “Though the cane should’ve been a giveaway.”

“Should’ve.” Darcy replied with a snort. “Any news on the HYDRA front?”

Art sighed and looked around at a small group of people in the corner of the diner. “Not much. Just the normal chatter. I expect you’d get more on your end. But I’ll keep my ear to the ground.”

“Thank you Art. And please, stay safe.” Darcy whispered as she reached over and grabbed his hand. “I can’t lose you too.”

He glanced down at their hands and then back up at her. He took a deep breath and sighed. “Well I don’t want to lose you either. I’ve begun to like you a little.”

She snorted and shook her head. “See you around Art.” They stood up and walked out of the diner and down the block.

“He was in love with your Sister.” Matt whispered to her. “His Partner.”

Darcy nodded slowly. “I know. That’s why we have to finish this. I can’t lose any more people to this. Too many were hurt by this. HYDRA, DYAD. They took too many from us.” She looked up at Matt. “We’re not property.”


End file.
